LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

Theological   Seminary 


PRINCETON,  N.  J 

BX  9225 

,R5 

R4  1872 

^ 

Reading 

(Pa 

) .  First 

Presbyt 

erian  Church. 

ias 

Memorial 

of 

the  Rev. 

El 

„J„.„  Pir-h 

3rHc  ..l.ptei  nasi- 

nr  nf 

&-J,  Jftc&kArtb 


MEMORIAL 


REV.  ELIAS  J.  RICHARDS,  D.D., 


LATE  PASTOR  OF  THE 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 

READING,  PA. 


PUBLISHED  BY  DIRECTION  OF  THE  CONGREGATION. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
CLAXTOX,  REMSEN,  AXD   IIAFFELFIXGER. 

1872. 


COLLINS,    PRINTER, 

705  j  ay. Nr.  3  rnEET. 


At  a  Special  meeting  of  the  Congregation  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Reading,  Pa.,  held  Friday  evening,  May  24,  1872,  Mr.  James 
Jameson  was  called  to  the  Chair. 

The  following  resolution,  offered  by  Mr.  Louis  Richards,  was  unanimously 
adopted : — 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  three  be  appointed  by  the  Chair  to  request 
for  publication  copies  of  the  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary  Sermon  of  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Richards,  and  the  Memorial  Sermon  delivered  by  the  Rev. 
Wallace  Radcliffe,  and  that  the  same  be  compiled  in  a  suitable  memorial 
volume,  in  which  shall  also  be  printed  the  resolutions  of  condolence  adopted 
by  the  Presbytery  and  by  the  Congregation  upon  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Richards,  together  with  any  other  material  that  may  seem  to  the  Committee 
to  be  appropriate  to  the  work  ;  to  said  Committee  being  also  entrusted  the 
details  of  the  style  and  method  of  its  publication. 

The  Chair  appointed  as  the  Committee  called  for  by  the  Resolution,  Messrs. 
Louis  Richards,  J.  H.  Sternbergh,  and  William  M.  Eaird. 
The  meeting  then  adjourned. 


TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY  SERMON, 


PREACHED  BY 


The  Rev.  ELIAS  J.  RICHARDS,  D.D., 


IN  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  READING,  PA., 


Sunday  Evening,  July  9,  1871. 


TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY  SERMON. 


"Ye  know,  from  the  first  day  that  I  came  into  Asia,  after  what 
manner  I  have  been  with  you  at  all  seasons."    Acts  xx.  18. 

The  parting  of  St.  Paul  with  the  elders  of 
Ephesus  is  the  most  impressive  and  touching 
scene  in  all  his  eventful  life.  In  an  address  of 
unequalled  tenderness  and  beauty  he  poured  out 
his  whole  soul  to  them.  He  appealed  to  their 
knowledge  of  his  manner  of  life  among  them  at 
all  seasons.  He  reviews  his  labors  among  them 
for  "the  space  of  three  years,"  and  calls  them 
to  witness  to  his  blameless  life,  his  unselfish 
devotion,  his  abundant  labors,  his  tears  and 
temptations,  and  to  the  earnestness  and  fidelity 
with  which  he  had  discharged  his  duties  as  a 
Christian  minister.  When  he  had  closed  his 
address,  he  kneeled  down  with  them  all  in  that 
solitary  place,  on  the  shore  of  the  great  and 
wide  sea  on  which  he  was  soon  to  set  sail,  and 


8  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

commended  them  unto  God.  It  was  a  deeply 
affecting  farewell;  they  "sorrowing  most  of  all 
for  the  words  that  he  spake,  that  they  should  see 
his  face  no  more."  And  they  parted  there,  Paul 
going  bound  in  spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  and  the 
brethren  returning  to  the  scene  of  their  labors 
and  responsibilities. 

It  would  be  sheer  presumption  for  any  modern 
minister  to  bring  his  life  and  labors  into  com- 
parison with  those  of  the  "chiefest  of  the 
apostles."  Paul  had  a  rare  genius,  and  was  the 
prince  of  preachers.  He  possessed  some  peculiar 
qualifications  and  endowments.  His  conversion 
was  miraculous;  he  had  seen  the  Lord,  and  he 
had  the  transcendent  gift  of  inspiration.  But 
while  none  may  rival  him  in  genius,  in  seraphic 
ardor,  or  in  the  grandeur  of  his  achievements, 
yet  other  men  may  be  conscious  of  the  same 
honesty  of  purpose,  and  the  same  high  endeavor 
to  make  full  proof  of  their  ministry.  It  is  one 
thing  to  aspire  and  to  strive,  and  another  to 
achieve  and  be  victorious. 

No  relation  is  more  important  or  sacred  than 
that  which  subsists  between  a  pastor  and  his 
people.  Without  disparaging  any  other  lawful 
calling  which  contributes  to  the  order  and 
prosperity    of   society,   or    to    the    safety    and 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  9 

improvement  of  the  individual,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  office  of  a  Christian  minister  is 
of  the  highest  excellence.  It  involves  great 
labors  and  responsibilities;  While  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  lawyer  to  defend  the  civil  rights  and 
property  of  men,  and  while  it  is  the  province  of 
the  physician  to  take  care  of  the  body  and  to 
guard  the  health,  it  is  the  duty  of  a  minister  to 
watch  for  souls  as  one  that  must  give  account. 
He  has  to  do,  not  with  the  transient  and 
perishable,  but  with  the  immortal  interests  of 
men.  When  the  records  and  results  of  other 
labors  have  passed  away  and  been  forgotten,  the 
effect  of  his  preaching  and  prayers  and  pastoral 
labors  will  remain,  and  come  under  review  in  the 
last  day.  The  issues  are  eternal.  The  pastoral 
relation  should  not  be  entered  upon  lightly  or 
unadvisedly,  but  prayerfully,  and  in  the  fear  of 
God ;  and  when  so  formed,  it  should  be  dissolved 
only  for  weighty  and  sufficient  reasons.  It  has 
ever  been  the  policy  of  our  Church  to  secure  its 
permanency.  It  contemplates  this  in  all  its 
provisions  and  arrangements.  There  is  a  public 
and  solemn  act  of  installation.  Pastor  and 
people  are  charged  with  reciprocal  duties,  and 
assume  mutual  obligations.  It  is  felt  that  the 
harmony  and  growth  and  prosperity  of  a  congre- 


10  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

gation  is  best  secured  when  this  relation  is  not 
transient  and  casual,  but  fixed  and  permanent. 
A  pastor  is  somewhat  more  than  an  evangelist, 
ranging  at  will  over  wide  fields  of  labor,  and 
tarrying  only  for  a   season.      He   is   somewhat 
more  than  a  preacher,  also,  who,  standing  above, 
and  apart  from,  the  people,  discourses  to  them 
upon   high    and    holy   themes.      He   is    indeed 
commissioned    "  to    stand    in    the    temple    and 
proclaim  unto  the  people  all  the  words  of  this 
life."     But  he  has  other  important  duties.     God 
has    made   him    an   overseer,   a    shepherd,   and 
"  bishop  of  souls."     Upon  him  devolves  the  duty 
of  inspection,  oversight  and  watchfulness.     He 
dwells  among  his  own  people,  not  as  an  acquaint- 
ance and  friend  only,  but  as  their  teacher  and 
adviser  in  spiritual  things.    He  knows  them,  and 
they  know  him,  thoroughly.      He  is   admitted 
freely  into  the  inner  circles  of  life.     He  is  with 
his   people   at    all    seasons,    in    prosperity   and 
adversity,  in  joy  and  in  sorrow,  at  weddings  and 
at  funerals.      They  come   to  him   in   the   most 
solemn  crises  of  their  history,  and  consult  him 
on  the  most  momentous  of  all  subjects.     Long 
intercourse  widens  his  friendships  and  deepens 
his  affections,  so  that,  in  the  course  of  years, 
there  is  a  close  interweaving  of  all  the  fibres  of 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  11 

their  existence.  Confidence  springs  up,  and 
attachments  are  formed  which  greatly  extend  a 
pastor's  influence  for  good.  Enduring  relations, 
also,  give  to  his  ministry  greater  breadth  and 
compass.  He  can  avail  himself  of  the  laws  of 
growth  and  progress.  The  impressions  made 
to-day  can  be  deepened  to-morrow.  The  seed 
sown  can  be  watered,  and  the  field  cultivated, 
until  the  harvest  is  gathered.  A  far  greater 
good  is  ultimately  secured  than  when  the  system 
is  narrowed  down  and  condensed  for  a  short 
continuance.  It  is  only  the  strong  faith  that  I 
have  had  in  these  principles,  joined  to  an  abiding 
conviction  of  personal  duty,  that  has  led  me,  in 
spite  of  frequent  and  strong  solicitations  to  enter 
other  inviting  fields,  still  to  remain  here  at  the 
post  of  duty. 

This  is  to  me  an  occasion  of  great  solemnity 
and  interest.  The  present  Sabbath  completes  a 
period  of  twenty-five  years  during  which  I  have 
been  the  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Reading.  I  preached  my  first  sermon  here,  on 
the  second  Sabbath  of  July,  1816.  I  am  not  a 
stranger  among  you,  nor  am  I  speaking  to 
strangers.  Standing  before  you  to-day,  at  the 
end  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  may  say  "Ye 
know  after  what  manner  I  have  been  with  you 


12  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

at  all  seasons."  It  is  not  with  confident  boasting 
that  I  make  this  appeal  to  your  judgment,  but  in 
all  humility,  and  with  the  deep  consciousness  of 
having  fallen  very  far  short  of  my  endeavors.  I 
apprehend  that  I  may  have  less  to  fear  from  your 
severity  than  your  partiality;  and  I  shrink  not 
so  much  from  the  scrutiny  of  my  congregation, 
as  from  my  own  self-inspection,  and  from  the 
searching  eye  of  God. 

Twenty-five  years!  In  that  time  almost  a 
generation  has  passed  away.  Childhood  has 
ripened  into  maturity,  manhood  has  sunk  into 
decrepitude,  and  old  age  has  found  its  resting 
place  in  the  grave.  "  Instead  of  the  fathers  are 
the  children."  Twenty-five  years — and  in  the 
middle  of  the  Nineteenth  Century !  What 
eventful  years  they  have  been,  and  what  a  record 
they  will  have  in  history.  What  marvellous  and 
unlooked-for  events  have  come  to  pass.  What 
great  and  startling  changes  have  they  witnessed. 
The  mightiest  political  revolutions  have  taken 
place  in  the  world.  Empires  have  risen  and 
fallen,  kingdoms  have  changed  their  rulers  and 
changed  their  boundaries.  Of  all  those  who  wore 
the  diadem  of  royalty  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  not  one  occupies  a  throne  in  Europe  to-day 
save  the  widowed  Queen  of  England.  France  has 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  13 

been  by  turns  a  kingdom,  a  republic,  an  empire, 
and  is  again  in  the  throes  of  a  revolution.  Prussia 
that  was  but  a  small  and  fragmentary  kingdom, 
has  advanced  to  the  front  rank  of  nations,  and 
her  king  has  been  elected  to  wear  the  crown  of 
Charlemagne  as  Emperor  of  Germany.  Italy, 
so  long  divided  between  petty  sovereigns,  has 
at  length  realized  its  dream  of  unity.  Yictor 
Emmanuel  has  established  his  throne  in  the  old 
Rome  of  the  Caesars.  Terrible  and  bloody  wars 
have  been  waged  in  India,  in  Hungary,  in  the 
Crimea,  in  Italy,  in  France,  and  in  the  United 
States.  Great  and  decisive  battles  have  been 
fought,  making  epochs  in  the  history  of  nations. 
Sadowa,  Sedan,  and  Gettysburg  will  henceforth 
rank  with  Thermopylae,  Pharsalia,  and  "Waterloo. 
"What  great  and  important  changes  have  been 
wrought  by  steam  and  electricity,  in  the  mode,  as 
well  as  in  the  channels  of  commercial  intercourse. 
They  have  bound  together  sundered  continents, 
and  brought  distant  nations  into  daily  communi- 
cation. "Within  the  period  contemplated,  the 
Suez  Canal  was  begun  and  completed.  The 
Alps,  also,  have  been  pierced  by  a  tunnel,  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains  scaled  by  a  railroad  that 
opens  new  routes  of  travel  to  the  Eastern  world. 
Such  gigantic  feats  of  engineering  and  enterprise 


14  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

find  no  parallel  in  the  past.  And  this,  too,  has 
been  the  era  of  Atlantic  Cables.  By  these,  time 
and  distance  are  almost  annihilated.  We  read 
the  news  of  the  previous  day  from  London  and 
Paris  and  St.  Petersburg  at  the  breakfast-table 
every  morning.  Five  and  twenty  years  ago 
China  and  Japan  were  closed  against  commerce 
and  Christianity.  But  the  wall  of  partition  has 
been  broken  down.  Ignorance  and  superstition 
have  had  to  yield  to  science  and  civilization. 
Treaties  have  been  formed,  guaranteeing  the 
rights  and  safety  of  those  engaged  in  trade.  The 
Bible  has  been  translated  into  foreign  lanjmaofes, 
and  missionaries  are  permitted  to  travel  and 
preach  the  gospel  without  molestation.  The 
whole  world  is  now  open  to  the  church  of  God. 
Great  progress  has  marked  these  years,  in  science, 
in  the  arts,  in  liberty  and  in  religion.  It  has 
been  a  privilege  to  live  and  labor  in  such  an  age 
of  the  world. 

Our  own  country,  especially,  has  witnessed 
great  changes,  and  been  the  theatre  of  the  most 
marvellous  events.  Its  domain  has  been  vastly 
extended.  New  states  and  territories  have  been 
added.  Its  population  has  almost  doubled,  num- 
bering now  nearly  forty  millions.  Cities  and 
towns  have  sprung  up  as  if  by  magic.     The  land 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  15 

has  been  in  a  great  measure  covered  by  a  net- 
work of  railroads  and  magnetic  telegraphs,  thus 
facilitating  trade  and  travel.  What  wonderful 
revelations  have  been  made  of  the  vast  resources 
and  wealth  of  the  country !  Mines  of  coal  and 
iron,  of  gold  and  silver  have  been  discovered  that 
seem  inexhaustible.  Great  advance  has  been 
made  in  commerce,  in  manufactures,  and  in  agri- 
culture. Capital  has  been  increased  a  hundred 
fold.  More  has  been  done  within  the  past  twenty- 
five  years  to  promote  the  interests  of  science  and 
education  than  in  the  previous  century.  Colleges, 
academies,  seminaries,  and  observatories  have 
sprung  up  in  every  part  of  our  land.  And  what  a 
wealth  of  endowment  many  of  them  have  received. 

The  great  institutions  of  religion  have  never 
been  so  prospered.  It  has  been  emphatically 
the  era  of  church  extension  in  our  land.  Cities 
and  towns,  and  villages  have  been  adorned  with 
churches,  of  a  style  and  character  such  as  the 
past  age  knew  nothing  of.  Everywhere  there 
has  been  substantial  progress. 

The  time  has  also  been  filled  with  great  and 
startling  events.  This  great  Republic  is  no 
longer  to  be  regarded  as  a  doubtful  experiment 
in  self-government.  It  has  passed  in  safety 
through  the  most  fiery  ordeal  to  which  any  na- 


16  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

tion  can  be  subjected.  It  has  crushed  out  the 
most  formidable  rebellion  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  and  it  stands  to-day  stronger  and  more 
stable  and  glorious  than  ever  before.  Slavery  was 
the  one  unnatural  and  dangerous  element  in  our 
Constitution,  and  the  one  dark  and  disgraceful 
blot  upon  our  escutcheon.  It  was  a  perpetual 
menace  to  the  harmony  and  integrity  of  the 
Union.  Its  whole  influence  was  demoralizing. 
It  corrupted  Congress,  the  Press,  and  the  Pul- 
pit. It  controlled  public  sentiment,  and  subsi- 
dized most  of  the  wealth  and  talent  of  the  country. 
It  could  not  be  discussed  anywhere  without 
arousing  passion,  and  no  man  could  even  pray  for 
the  down-trodden  and  oppressed  without  offence. 
The  irrepressible  conflict  began,  and  none  could 
foresee  its  issues.  Good  men  hoped  and  prayed 
that  the  dark  problem  might  find  some  peaceful 
solution  by  a  system  of  gradual  emancipation. 
But  this  hope  was  not  to  be  realized.  Compromises 
were  made  in  vain.  The  dark  cloud  grew  darker 
every  year,  and  now,  and  then  were  seen  vivid 
flashes  of  lightning  that  foretokened  the  coming 
tempest.  The  first  shot  fired  upon  Fort  Sumpter 
plunged  the  nation  into  all  the  horrors  of  a  civil 
war.  And  what  a  Avar  it  was,  waged  on  such  a 
broad  arena,  and  between  such  gigantic  forces! 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  17 

The  world  had  never  seen  anything  like  it  before, 
and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  it  may  never  see  anything 
like  it  again.  But  the  stern  logic  of  events  set- 
tled forever  the  question  of  slavery.  The  sword 
gave  freedom  to  four  millions  of  men  who  had 
been  pining  in  bondage.  Henceforth  this  broad 
land  is  to  be  the  land  of  the  free. 

We  now  look  back  with  feelings  of  awe  and 
wonder  at  that  terrible  and  bloody  strife.  It 
seems  more  like  some  strange  and  appalling 
vision  of  the  night  than  a  reality.  But  it  was  no 
dream,  or  fading  vision.  The  thousands  of 
families  that  have  been  stricken  with  sorrow,  the 
thousands  of  homes  that  have  been  made  desolate 
by  war,  the  fathers  and  mothers,  the  wives  and 
sisters  that  have  wept  in  bitterness  over  fallen 
sons,  husbands,  and  brothers,  are  witnesses  that 
it  was  no  dream.  The  many  battle-fields  where 
our  heroes  fought  and  fell,  the  wretched  prisons 
and  hospitals  where  they  languished  or  starved, 
and  the  cemeteries  where  they  sleep  their  last 
sleep,  assure  us  that  it  was  a  stern  and  awful 
reality.  And  as  long  as  the  custom  lasts  of 
decorating  their  graves  with  the  flowers  of 
spring,  we  shall  not  be  suffered  to  forget  what  a 
sacrifice  of  precious  lives  it  cost  to  save  our  im- 
periled  country.      And   having    emerged   from 


18  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

that  bloody  baptism  and  been  purified  by  the 
fires  of  war,  loved  at  home  and  revered  abroad, 
she  has  set  out  upon  a  career  of  prosperity  and 
splendor. 

To  us,  as  Presbyterians,  the  most  auspicious 
and  glorious  event  has  been  the  re-union  of  our 
beloved  Church.  For  thirty  years  the  Church 
was  in  the  wilderness,  divided  into  two  camps 
marching  in  sight  of  each  other,  yet  refusing  to 
mingle.  It  was  a  scandal  to  the  Church,  and  a 
grief  to  the  friends  of  religion.  Ephraim  envied 
Judah,  and  Judah  vexed  Ephraim.  But  at  last, 
when  death  had  done  its  work  upon  those  who 
had  been  most  active  in  the  strife,  and  a  calmer 
spirit  reigned  in  the  Church,  they  were  drawn 
together  by  a  sure  instinct.  And  when  the 
word  Re-union  was  uttered,  it  found  a  unanimous 
response  from  all  quarters.  The  providence  of 
God  effected  what  no  human  wisdom  could  have 
compassed.  It  was  a  grand  and  impressive 
event,  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
witnessed  it.  We  are  permitted  to  rejoice  over 
it  as  an  accomplished  fact.  Members  of  the 
same  household,  after  years  of  alienation  and 
strife,  now  happily  dwell  together  in  unity.  The 
Lord  has  done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  Ave 
are  glad;   and  as  the  witness  of  their  joy  and 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  19 

thanksgiving',  the  re-united  Church  determined 
to  raise  five  millions  of  dollars  as  a  memorial 
offering  unto  God.  But  she  has  done  more  and 
better  than  she  purposed.  In  the  final  summing 
up  it  was  found  to  be  but  little  short  of  ten 
millions  !  It  was  such  an  offering  as  was  worthy 
of  this  great  historic  Church,  and  it  has  won  for 
her  the  commendation  of  sister  churches  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

During  this  period  there  have  been  great 
changes  in  our  own  city.  Time  was  when 
Reading  was  known  only  as  "a  little  Dutch 
town  up  among  the  mountains."  Twenty-five 
years  ago  it  was  an  incorporated  borough  of 
some  twelve  thousand  inhabitants,  of  which 
Peter  Filbert,  Esq.,  was  Chief  Burgess.  It  was 
a  staid  and  quiet  town,  with  a  decided  look  of 
quaintness.  Its  streets  had  recently  been  graded, 
but  were  not  yet  lighted  with  gas.  The  Court 
House  had  disappeared  from  Penn  Square,  but 
the  old  brick  Market  Houses,  which  gave  place 
to  those  recently  removed,  were  still  standing. 
There  was  but  one  railroad,  and  one  passenger 
train  a  day  each  way.  On  other  routes  the  old 
stage  coaches  afforded  the  only  facility  for  travel. 
The  public  school  system  had  been  but  partially 
organized,  and  not  a  school-house  had  yet  been 


20  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

built.  Great  progress  has  been  witnessed  in  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century.  The  borough  has 
become  the  third  city  in  the  State,  having  a 
population  of  nearly  forty  thousand.  Its  boun- 
daries have  been  extended,  new  streets  have 
been  opened,  and  many  vacant  places  covered 
with  substantial  dwellings.  Business  has  greatly 
increased.  The  whole  river  front  is  now  lined 
with  furnaces,  forges,  rolling  mills,  and  various 
other  manufacturing  establishments.  On  every 
side  may  be  seen  changes  and  improvements,  in 
stores  and  shops,  in  public  buildings  and  private 
residences.  Fine,  spacious,  and  well-arranged 
school-houses  have  been  erected  in  every  ward 
of  the  city.  Our  youth  also  enjoy  the  advantages 
of  a  High  School,  which  is  worthy  of  the  patron- 
age it  receives  in  the  community.  A  model  prison 
has  been  built,  not  excelled  by  any  in  the  State. 
The  city  now  boasts  of  a  Cemetery — a  city  of 
the  dead — beautiful  for  situation,  and  the  noble 
a'ift  of  that  old  and  honored  citizen  whose  name 
it  bears.  In  religious  affairs,  also,  we  have  made 
a  decided  advance.  During  these  twenty-five 
years  there  has  been  a  great  increase  in  the 
number  of  churches,  and  in  the  accumulation  of 
church  property.  New  churches  have  been  built 
and  old  ones  re-modeled,  enlarged,  and  improved. 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICIIAKDS,  D.  D. 


21 


The  accommodations  for  worshippers  have  more 
than  kept  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  popula- 
tion. 

Great  changes  have  occurred  in  the  society  of 
Reading,  by  deaths  and  removals.  We  may  well 
ask— "The  fathers,  where  arc  they?"  When  I 
came  here,  five-and-twenty  years  ago,  the  leading 
men  at  the  Bar  were  Evans,  and  Biddle,  and 
Banks,  and  Gordon,  and  Dechert,  and  Strong. 
The  last,  only,  survives  to  adorn  the  Bench  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  country.  Our  medical 
practitioners  were  the  Drs.  Hiester,  and  Otto, 
and  Gries,  and  Stuart,  and  Hunter,  and  these  are 
all  gone.  And  how  few  do  we  meet  on  the  street, 
or  in  the  places  of  concourse,  of  our  old  merchants 
and  business  men.  Of  the  ministers  who  filled 
the  pulpits  of  the  various  churches  at  that  period, 
not  one  remains  in  his  place.  In  some  of  the 
pulpits  there  have  been  many  changes,  in  all  of 
them  more  than  one.  Many,  and  perhaps  better, 
pastors  have  found  difficulties  and  been  dismissed, 
and  others  have  not  been  suffered  to  continue  by 
reason  of  death.  It  has  been  my  sad  duty  to 
follow  to  their  last  resting  places,  at  different 
times,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Miller  and  Richards,  and 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wiggins,  and  Pauli,  and  Hoff- 
man,  and   Keller,    and    Gloucester,    and   Hunt. 


22  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

My  old  associates  are  in  heaven,  and  I  am  living 
among  new  men. 

"When  I  came  among  3rou,  this  congregation 
was  worshipping  in  the  "  Old  White  Church," 
on  West  Perm  Street,  a  building  not  very 
attractive,  or  eligibly  situated.  The  lecture- 
room  was  in  the  basement,  dark,  damp,  poorly 
ventilated,  and  with  no  accommodations  for  the 
Sabbath-school.  A  few  months  after  my  instal- 
lation, measures  were  taken  to  secure  a  more 
central  location,  and  to  erect  a  new  and  more 
commodious  church.  The  corner  stone  of  this 
building  was  laid,  with  appropriate  services,  on 
the  27th  of  June,  1847,  and  it  was  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  God  on  the  19th  of  November, 
1818.  The  church  remained  in  its  original 
condition  until  1867,  when  many  changes  and 
improvements  were  made.  It  was  re-upholstered 
and  painted,  new  gas  fixtures  were  procured,  and 
these  beautiful  memorial  windows  put  in  place. 
The  cost  of  the  building  and  ground,  together 
with  the  late  improvements,  was  not  far  from 
forty  thousand  dollars.  Our  object  has  been  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  times,  and  to  render  this 
house  worthy  of  Him  whom  we  worship.  It  is 
a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  God  is  indifferent 
to  the  kind  of  temple  which  His  people  consecrate 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  23 

to  His  service.  If  it  be  not  the  noblest  and  best 
within  the  compass  of  their  means,  it  is  not  what 
He  may  reasonably  expect  from  them.  For  the 
church  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  place  where 
divine  worship  may  be  celebrated,  but  also  as  a 
perpetual  offering  unto  God;  an  anthem  praising 
Him  as  it  stands  silently  like  the  stars  that  have 
no  speech,  yet  are  forever  singing  as  they  shine. 
To  me  this  structure  is  invested  with  peculiar 
interest.  I  had  some  agency  in  determining  its 
plan  and  arrangement.  It  cost  me  much  thought 
and  anxiety  and  labor  to  make  it  what  it  now  is. 
I  watched  with  eager  interest  these  walls  as  they 
went  up,  stone  upon  stone,  and  every  subsequent 
step  and  stage  of  its  progress  toward  completion. 
Others  may  be  grander  and  more  costly,  but  none 
can  be  to  me  so  dear  or  sacred.  It  has  been  my 
spiritual  home  through  all  these  years.  Here,  in 
this  pulpit,  I  have  stood  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
m}^  fellow-men.  Here  I  have  witnessed  scenes  of 
ino-atherino:  and  the  consecration  of  souls  to  God 
that  have  not  only  made  the  church  glad,  but 
have  called  forth  a  sweeter  note  from  the  harp  of 
Gabriel.  I  have  hallowed  memories  and  associa- 
tions connected  with  all  things  around  me.  I 
regard  this  edifice,  also,  as  a  reasonable  guaranty 
for  the  future  of  this  congregation.     It   is  sub- 


24  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

stantial  in  its  character,  ample  in  its  dimensions, 
convenient  in  its  arrangements  and  sufficiently 
tasteful  and  elegant  to  meet  the  wishes  of  rea- 
sonable men.  It  is  centrally  located,  just  where 
it  will  be  wanted  for  generations  to  come.  It 
will  stand  when  I  am  gone,  when  you  are  gone. 
Here  the  word  will  be  preached  and  the  ordi- 
nances be  administered.  Other  pastors  will 
stand  in  this  pulpit,  other  members  will  occupy 
these  pews,  other  elders  will  bear  in  their  hands 
the  symbols  of  the  great  sacrifice,  other  parents 
will  dedicate  their  children  in  Christian  baptism. 
A  century  hence  it  will  be  regarded  as  the  most 
enduring  and  befitting  monument  of  those  who 
reared  it.     Peace  be  within  its  sacred  walls! 

As  a  church,  we  have  had  some  difficulties  to 
contend  with  in  our  growth  and  progress.  It  is 
to  be  remembered  that  this  is  a  somewhat  peculiar 
community.  The  mass  of  the  population  has  no 
natural  affinity  with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Other  forms  of  faith  and  worship  are  here  in  the 
ascendant.  By  descent  and  education  and  per- 
sonal preferences,  the  people  are  drawn  into  other 
communions.  And  we  honor  them  for  their 
strong  attachment  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers. 
We,  on  the  other  hand,  are  dependent  mainly  on 
the  influx  from  abroad  for   our  increase.     This 


EEV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  25 

source  is  less  reliable  and  certain.  It  has  its  ebbs 
and  flows.  We  are  subjected  to  a  constant 
drain  by  the  removal  of  our  active  young  men  to 
the  larger  cities,  or  to  the  West.  We  have  dis- 
missed over  one  hundred  members,  during  this 
period,  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia  alone.  We 
suffered  severety  also,  during  one  decade,  by  the 
loss  of  a  number  of  our  oldest  and  best  families, 
who  had  been  identified  with  the  church  from  the 
beginning.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  hin- 
drances, it  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  record  sub- 
stantial progress.  When  the  church  records  came 
into  my  hands,  there  were  one  hundred  and  sixty 
members  on  the  roll.  Meantime,  Ave  have  ad- 
mitted, in  the  aggregate,  more  than  five  hundred 
persons  to  our  communion.  Three-fifths  of  these 
have  been  received  on  the  profession  of  their  faith. 
And  notwithstanding  the  losses  to  which  we 
have  been  subjected  by  death  and  removals,  the 
present  membership  on  the  register  of  the  church 
is  four  hundred  and  seventeen.  The  progress 
has  been  onward  from  year  to  year,  and  though 
the  growth  has  not  been  as  rapid  as  we  could 
wish,  it  has  been  steady  and  healthy.  Very 
precious  seasons  of  revival  have  been  enjoyed 
by  this  people  from  time  to  time,  some  more 
and  some  less  extended  and  powerful,  but  all  of 


26  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

them  bringing  forth  such  fruit  of  increase  as 
greatly  to  strengthen  the  church  and  to  create 
joy  in  heaven.  In  these  seasons  we  have  de- 
pended upon  God  and  ourselves.  The  pastor, 
with  little  foreign  aid,  has  conducted  the  ser- 
vices, preaching  evening  after  evening,  and  for 
several  weeks.  They  were  truly  times  of  re- 
freshing from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  will 
never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  then  made 
heirs  of  grace. 

The  Sabbath-school  of  this  church  is  the  oldest 
in  our  city.  It  was  for  many  years  conducted  as 
a  Union  School,  and  very  many  have  been  trained 
up  in  it  to  become  efficient  laborers  in  other  rela- 
tions. The  record  of  the  school  for  the  past 
twenty-five  years  has  been  a  very  honorable  and 
encouraging  one.  It  has  been  indeed  the  nursery 
of  the  church.  JS^ot  a  single  year  has  passed 
without  more  or  less  ingathering  of  precious 
fruit  from  it.  According  to  the  last  Annual 
Report,  it  numbers  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  persons,  teachers  and  scholars,  and  at  pre- 
sent it  is  in  a  very  prosperous  and  promising  con- 
dition. Meantime  we  have  not  been  unmindful 
of  the  destitute  sections  of  the  city.  During  most 
of  this  period,  two  nourishing  mission  schools 
have  been  conducted  and  supported  by  members 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  27 

of  this  church.  Three  years  ago,  a  new  enter- 
prise was  started  at  the  Rolling  Mill,  that  prom- 
ises good  success.  A  flourishing  Sunday- 
school  has  been  gathered,  and  a  Memorial  Chapel 
erected  at  a  cost  of  about  five  thousand  dollars. 
Services  are  now  held  in  it  twice  every  Sabbath, 
and  we  have  good  hopes  that  it  may  soon  result, 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  in  the  organization  of  a 
new  church. 

The  cause  of  Christian  benevolence  has  always 
received  the  active  sympathy  and  co-operation  of 
this  church.  It  has  been  my  aim  to  lead  its  mem- 
bers to  consecrate  their  substance  to  God,  and 
to  regard  themselves  as  stewards  of  His  bounty. 
In  the  Sunday-school  a  system  of  monthly  con- 
tribution was  established  more  than  twenty  years 
ago,  and  with  most  gratifying  results.  There  has 
been  a  gradual  increase,  the  contributions  the 
last  year  amounting  to  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  dollars.  A  like  increase  has  been  witnessed 
in  the  benefactions  of  the  church.  They  have 
averaged  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  a  year 
during  the  period  under  review.  £Tor  must  I  omit 
to  mention  that  the  Ladies'  Sewing  Society  has 
each  winter  made  up  a  box  of  clothing  for  the 
family  of  some  home  missionary,  valued  at  one 
or  two  hundred  dollars.     At  the  same  time  they 


28  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  poor  and  destitute 
in  our  own  church  and  community.  Thus,  from 
a  review  of  the  past,  while  Ave  find  reason  to  be 
humbled  that  we  have  done  no  more,  we  also  find 
abundant  cause  for  gratitude  to  God,  and  for 
renewed  encouragement  for  the  future. 

But  mere  dry  statistics  cannot  adequately 
convey  to  us  the  results  of  Christian  ministry. 
Silently  and  unseen  it  has  been  going  on  through 
all  these  37ears.  Think  of  the  impressions  and 
experiences  that  have  here  taken  place,  of  the  de- 
cisions that  have  been  formed  for  eternity,  the  con- 
solations that,  in  connection  with  ministrations, 
have  been  poured  into  the  bosom  of  affliction, 
the  great  thoughts  and  emotions  that  have  been 
awakened  in  believing  souls,  and  that  have  gone 
out  hence  to  be  embodied  in  noble  actions,  the 
evil  influences  that  have  been  counteracted,  the 
wanderers  that  have  been  reclaimed,  the  miseries 
that  have  been  alleviated,  the  hopes  that  have 
been  confirmed,  and  the  souls  made  meet  for 
heaven.  Bread  has  been  cast  upon  the  waters 
that  may  be  found  after  many  days.  Seed  has 
here  been  sown,  which,  though  it  may  lie  buried 
long  in  dust,  }ret  shall  not  deceive  our  hope. 
The  good  may  appear  long  after  our  da}'.  It 
may  appear  on  the  shores  of  another  continent ; 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  29 

it  may  appear  on  the  shores  of  another  world. 
No,  not  until  the  great  day  of  revelation,  not 
until  we  enter  the  eternal  world  shall  we  be  able 
to  sum  up  the  good  accomplished  in  this  church 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  But  not 
unto  us,  but  unto  God  be  all  the  glory. 

The  past  twenty-five  years  are  not  without 
their  record  of  bereavement  and  sorrow.  Very 
few  yet  remain  of  those  who  called  me  to  this 
field  of  labor.  In  vain  I  endeavor  to  re-assemble 
the  audience  to  whom  I  first  preached.  They 
are  scattered  far  and  wide.  Some  are  distant 
and  some  are  dead.  Of  the  many  once  familiar 
forms,  some  have  entered  into  fellowship  with 
the  church  militant  in  other  places,  and  some 
have  joined  "the  General  Assembly  and  Church 
of  the  First  Born  in  Heaven."  There  are  dear 
faces  pictured  in  memory  that  appear  no  more  in 
our  social  gatherings,  and  there  are  names  not 
difficult  to  recall  that  have  been  chiseled  on 
monumental  marble  for  many  a  year.  As  I  look 
over  this  congregation  to-day,  I  realize  most 
deeply  what  changes  have  taken  place  in  indi- 
viduals and  families,  changes  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  in  the  session,  in  the  choir,  and  in  the 
pews.  Death  has  been  among  us,  reaping  with 
no  sparing  hand.     Few  dwellings  are  there  that 


30  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

during  this  period  have  not  been  draped  in 
mourning-.  Often,  oh !  how  often,  have  Ave  wept 
together  as  we  have  laid  our  loved  ones  down  in 
that  sleep  which  on  earth  knows  no  waking.  Of 
the  elders  who  have  borne  to  you  the  sacramental 
emblems,  John  McKnight,  Elijah  Dechert,  and 
William  Eckcrt  have  gone  to  join  the  "four-and- 
twenty  elders"  who  stand  before  the  throne  of 
God.  And  we  miss  from  their  accustomed  seats 
such  men  as  Charles  Pearson,  Samuel  Bell,  Wil- 
liam Peocock,  Henry  Robeson,  Samuel  Strong, 
AVilliam  McFarland,  John  Zeller,  James  Luckie, 
Thomas  Hunter,  Daniel  Reeser,  John  Fritz,  and 
Thomas  McCombs — not  to  mention  others  whose 
names  you  will  easily  recall.  Death  is  no 
respecter  of  persons.  !N"o  age  nor  sex  has  been 
spared.  Many  cherished  little  ones  have  been 
transplanted  to  the  other  side.  Young  maidens 
in  the  glow  of  their  beauty,  and  young  men  in 
the  pride  of  their  manhood  we  have  followed  to 
their  last  resting  places.  And  mothers  in  Israel, 
also — "noble  women  not  a  few" — women  "full 
of  good  works  and  alms  deeds  which  they  did," 
have  been  taken  from  us,  and  the  church  has 
made  devout  lamentations  over  them.  Their 
names  and  record  are  on  high. 

My  most  tender  and  impressive  recollections 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  31 

to-day  are  connected  with  those  scenes  of  bereave- 
ment and  burial.  I  have  sat,  scores  of  times,  in 
the  dim  light  and  close  atmosphere  of  the  dying 
chamber,  and  with  aching  head  and  heart  have 
watched  and  prayed  while  humanity  was  strug- 
gling in  life's  last  agonies.  I  have  stood  by 
many  a  coffin  and  many  a  grave,  and  spoken 
words  of  consolation  which  my  own  heart  craved 
as  much  as  yours.  For  am  I  not  a  man  and  a 
brother?  Conld  I  do  otherwise  than  mingle  my 
tears  with  yours  when  death  was  robbing  me  of 
some  of  my  warmest  and  most  cherished  earthly 
friends?  They  are  gone  to  be  forever  with  the 
Lord,  and  earth  appears  less  dark  and  lonely 
when  we  remember  that  "such  as  these  have 
lived  and  died." 

"Remembered  are  the  dead  !    They  have  lain  down, 
Believing  that  when  all  our  work  is  done 
We  would  lie  down  beside  them,  and  be  near 
When  the  last  trump  shall  summon  to  fold  up 
The  trusting  flock,  and  with  the  promises, 
Whose  words  could  sweeten  death, 
Take  up  once  more  the  interrupted  strain ; 
And  wait  Christ's  coming,  saying — '  Here  am  I 
And  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me.'  " 

You  will  pardon,  I  trust,  some  references  to 
myself,  on  an  occasion  like  this,  as  they  seem 


32  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

unavoidable.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  I  came 
among-  yon  in  answer  to  a  very  unanimous  and 
earnest  call  from  this  church,  a  call  thrice 
repeated  in  the  space  of  a  few  months.  I  was 
then  a  young  man,  with  but  a  limited  experience 
in  the  ministry.  I  greatly  distrusted  my  ability 
to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  such  a  charge. 
My  health,  too,  had  been  shattered  by  a  recent 
illness.  If  I  wondered  at  the  venture  you  made 
in  extending  me  a  call  at  the  first,  I  wondered 
still  more  at  your  persistence  in  urging  my 
acceptance.  It  was  not  without  many  doubts 
and  misgivings  that  I  yielded  at  last  to  the 
judgment  of  friends  and  what  seemed  to  be  the 
convictions  of  duty.  I  came  here  a  stranger,  and 
literally  "in  much  fear  and  trembling."  You 
know  the  result.  The  union  then  formed  has 
remained  unbroken,  and  the  harmony  and  peace 
of  the  congregation  has  scarcely  been  disturbed 
by  a  ripple.  My  personal  intercourse  with  this 
people  has  ever  been  most  pleasant  and  familiar. 
I  have  endeavored  to  regard  them  all — rich  and 
poor,  old  and  young — as  my  friends.  My  purpose 
has  been  to  visit  all  the  families  at  least  once 
every  year,  but  from  sickness  and  other  unavoid- 
able circumstances,  I  have  not  always  been  able 
to  accomplish  it.    No  one  but  a  pastor  can  know 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  33 

how  difficult  it  is  to  meet  the  wishes  of  a  con- 
gregation in  this  particular.  If,  in  any  instance, 
there  has  been  apparent  remissness  on  my  part 
which  has  grieved  any  heart,  I  can  assure  such 
that  no  such  remissness  was  intended,  and  that 
it  can  be  regretted  by  no  person  more  sincerely 
than  by  myself. 

It  would  be  doing  great  injustice  to  my  own 
feelings,  as  well  as  to  the  demands  of  the  occasion, 
were  I  to  omit  some  distinct  reference  to  the 
manner  in  which  this  people  have  treated  their 
pastor  from  the  first  day  until  the  present  hour. 
JNeed  I  say  that  it  has  been  kind,  considerate,  in- 
dulgent, and  often  generous  treatment.  I  cannot 
enumerate  all  the  marks  of  confidence  and  esteem 
that  I  have  received  at  your  hands.  One  instance, 
however,  I  may  allude  to  as  marked  by  a  white 
stone  in  my  memory.  Fifteen  years  ago,  when 
my  health  was  likely  to  fail  utterly,  you  kindly 
voted  to  give  your  pastor  rest  for  some  months, 
and  also  something  substantial  to  sweeten  that 
rest  by  enabling  him  to  visit  the  Old  World.  I 
shall  feel  richer  and  happier  for  life  by  what  I 
was  permitted  to  see.  I  would  not  part  with  the 
new  experience  I  then  had,  nor  lose  the  thoughts 
there  awakened,  nor  blot  out  the  impressions  then 
received,  from  the  works  of  art  and  nature,  for  any 


34  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

man's  fortune.  There  are  those  among  the  living, 
as  well  as  among  the  dead,  whose  words  of  encour- 
agement, genial  sympathy,  and  needed  assistance 
have  a  record  in  my  heart  of  hearts.  Few  pastors 
have  been  more  favored  in  the  people  to  whom 
they  have  ministered.  To  the  Trustees,  holding 
as  they  do  very  important  relations  to  the  com- 
fort and  success  of  the  pastor;  to  the  Elders,  who 
have  counseled  and  encouraged  him  in  all  his 
labors ;  to  the  Superintendents  and  Teachers,  who 
have  aided  him  in  training  the  young;  to  the 
Choir,  who  have  added  so  much  to  the  interest  of 
worship ;  to  the  dear  Children,  who  have  ever  wel- 
comed him  with  smiles ;  and  especially  to  that 
little  band  of  faithful  Christian  men  and  women, 
who  have  sustained  him  by  their  attendance  at 
the  lecture  and  the  prayer  meeting;  to  one  and  all 
of  these  I  take  pleasure,  on  this  public  occasion, 
in  tendering  my  sincere  and  heartfelt  acknowledg- 
ments. May  the  Lord  reward  them  a  thousand- 
fold for  all  their  kindness  to  me. 

"When  I  assumed  the  office  of  a  Christian 
minister,  it  was  with  the  full  consciousness  of  its 
solemn  responsibilities.  The  one  work  given  me 
to  do  was  to  preach  the  Gospel.  I  felt  that  I 
had  no  choice,  no  discretion  in  the  matter. 
"For  necessity  is  laid  upon  me;  yea,  woe  is  me 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  35 

if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel."  'Not  philosophy, 
nor  science,  nor  literature,  but  Christ  crucified 
has  been  my  theme.  Not  Socrates  and  Plato, 
but  Paul  and  John  have  been  my  teachers.  In 
my  ministry  in  this  place,  I  have  never  sought 
after  novelties,  never  chosen  mere  sensational 
themes,  never  pursued  any  hobbies,  never  in- 
dulged in  curious  speculations,  nor  engaged  in 
angry  and  useless  controversies,  nor  dragged  in 
politics.  I  have  never  felt  justified  in  courting 
a  grin  when  I  should  woo  a  soul,  nor  in  address- 
ing the  fancy  with  amusing  tales  when  sent 
with  God's  commission  to  the  heart.  While  I 
have  never  been  careless  of  the  approbation  of 
my  people,  I  can  honestly  say  that  I  have  been 
more  anxious  to  profit  than  to  please  them; 
more  anxious  to  commend  myself  to  their  con- 
sciences than  to  their  tastes.  I  have  the  consci- 
ousness this  day  that  I  have  been  sincere  in 
preaching  the  Gospel,  never  preaching  what  I 
did  not  believe,  and  never  keeping  back  anything 
I  did  believe  and  felt  it  my  duty  to  preach.  I 
have  endeavored  to  make  the  Cross  of  Christ 
central  in  my  preaching,  as  it  is  in  my  system  of 
theology.  !NTor  have  I  ignored  the  creed  of  our 
Church,  as  containing  the  best  expression  of 
"the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints."     It  may 


36  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

not  be  very  popular  in  this  age  of  liberal,  but 
shallow,  thinking.  I  adopt  it  intelligently, 
heartily.  I  bind  it  as  a  crown  unto  me.  If  it  has 
Alpine  sternness  and  gloom,  it  has  also  Alpine 
grandeur  and  glory.  In  connection  with  it  is 
developed  the  best  type  of  religious  character 
the  world  has  ever  known.  It  nourished  the 
manly  piety  of  martyrs  and  reformers,  and  from 
its  strong  mould  spring  such  "  cedars  of  God" 
as  Ansel m  and  Augustine,  Luther  and  Calvin, 
Howe  and  Edwards. 

In  regard  to  the  character  of  my  pulpit  minis- 
trations, I  have  uniformly  labored  to  make  them 
as  perfect  as  I  could.  I  have  seldom,  or  never, 
brought  here  that  which  cost  me  nothing.  God 
has  required  beaten  oil  for  the  sanctuary.  "While 
I  have  not  ambitiously  made  sermons  to  gain  a 
reputation  for  genius,  learning,  and  taste,  I  have 
still  recognized  the  right  of  this  people  to  my 
best  thoughts  at  all  times.  It  has  been  my 
custom,  when  health  and  other  duties  would 
permit,  to  devote  many  hours  a  day,  and  often 
many  days  in  a  week,  to  my  pulpit  preparations. 
But  I  have  always  had  an  ideal  of  excellence  in 
sermonizing  which  has  mocked  my  attainments, 
and  after  striving  to  do  my  best,  I  have  often 
been   pained   by   a   sense   of   miserable   failure. 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  37 

!None  of  my  hearers  have  judged  me  more 
severely  than  I  have  judged  myself.  While  here, 
I  have  preached  over  three  thousand  sermons, 
and  have  been  with  you  at  a  hundred  commu- 
nions. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  all  these  years 
should  pass  over  me  without  their  personal  trials. 
I  have  not  been  exempt  from  the  common  lot.  I 
have  felt  vexations  and  troubles ;  I  have  expe- 
rienced disappointments  and  losses.  I  have  not 
been  a  stranger  to  dejected  hopes.  Often  I  have 
known  what  it  was  to  be  a  sufferer.  There  have 
been  years,  many  years,  when  there  were  but  few 
days  in  the  week,  and  often  but  few  hours  in  the 
day,  of  respite  from  pain  and  discomfort.  I  look 
back  now  with  wonder  that  I  could  labor  at  all, 
that  I  did  not  yield  to  the  temptation  of  giving 
up  in  despair.  But  God  was  better  to  me  than 
my  fears,  and  brought  me  through.  I  have 
known,  also,  one  sore  bereavement.  Suddenly  I 
was  called  to  go  down  to  the  margin  of  the  cold, 
dark  river,  with  the  wife  of  my  youth  and  the 
mother  of  my  children,  and  to  gaze  after  her  wist- 
fully and  with  tears,  as  she  passed  over  to  the 
other  side.  I  have  been  taught  by  these  trials 
that  religion  has  consolations  for  the  darkest 
hours,  and  that  joy  is  often  born  of  sorrow,  as 


38  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

morning  is  of  night.  The  aspects  of  life  have 
somewhat  changed  with  the  flight  of  years. 
Many  illusions  have  vanished,  many  sanguine 
hopes  have  miscarried,  and  all  the  roseate  hues 
of  that  morning  time  have  faded  into  the  light  of 
common  day. 

Ministers,  I  am  aware,  are  often  stigmatized 
as  hirelings,  and  accused  of  discharging  their  re- 
sponsible duties  in  a  cold,  heartless,  and  perfunc- 
tory manner.  It  may  sometimes  be  so,  not  often. 
But  God  is  my  witness  when  I  tell  you  that  what 
toils  and  trials,  anxieties  and  sorrows,  I  have 
had  as  a  man,  are  light  afflictions  compared  with 
those  I  have  endured  as  a  minister.  The  heaviest 
burden  upon  my  heart  has  been  the  burden  of 
souls.  The  deepest  grief  I  have  ever  felt  has 
been  for  my  want  of  success  in  winning  souls  to 
Christ.  There  is  no  sorrow  like  unto  this  sorrow. 
The  world  knows  little  of  the  days  of  darkness 
and  solicitude,  and  the  nights  of  wakefulness  and 
weeping  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  every  faithful 
minister.     God  will  not  forget. 

You  will  bear  me  witness  that  I  am  not  in  the 
habit  of  obtruding  any  personal  matters  upon  the 
attention  of  this  congregation.  Perhaps  on  an 
occasion  like  this,  I  may  be  justified  in  a  passing 
allusion  to  my  own  views  and  feelings  on  a  sub- 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  39 

ject  above  all  others  the  most  important,  and  to 
which  I  have  so  often  directed  your  attention. 
My  religious  experience  extends  over  a  period  of 
more  than  forty  years.  And  I  would  say  that  I 
have  no  doubt  of  the  reality  and  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion,  that  it  is  what  it  purports  to 
be,  a  revelation  from  Heaven.  I  regard  the  glori- 
ous Gospel  of  Christ  as  worthy  of  all  acceptation. 
The  doctrines  of  grace,  atonement  by  the  blood  of 
a  dying  Saviour,  justification  by  his  righteousness, 
sanctification  by  the  spirit  of  God,  and  the  gua- 
rantees of  son -ship  and  saint-ship,  these  are  en- 
shrined within  my  heart.  I  repose  in  them  an  un- 
questioning trust.  They  were  never  so  true  and 
precious  to  me  as  in  these  later  years.  I  expect 
to  be  saved  through  no  merit  of  my  own,  but  by 
the  Grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  Through  him 
alone  have  I  righteousness  and  peace.  Blessed 
be  God,  I  have  long  enjoyed  a  comfortable  hope. 
I  would  not  exchange  it  for  the  wealth  of  worlds. 
It  has  been  my  stay  and  support  in  all  my  labors 
and  trials.  Religion  is  now  my  delight  and  com- 
fort in  life.  My  happiest  thoughts  spring  from 
this  source.  My  sweetest  moments  are  those  in 
which  I  think  most  clearly  of  religious  truth,  and 
feel  most  strongly  its  genial  power.  Its  resources 
and  provisions  are  all-sufficient  for  my  spiritual 


40  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

necessities.  And  now,  when  the  shadows  begin 
to  lengthen,  I  look  with  composure  into  the  tomb, 
and  with  joyful  anticipations  to  my  heavenly 
home  in  the  skies. 

Turning  now  from  the  past,  what  shall  I  say 
for  the  future  ?  It  is  not  for  me  to  lift  the  veil 
to  see  what  may  lie  beyond  it.  But  well  I  know 
that  we  shall  never  meet  on  another  such  anni- 
versary. Full  well  I  know  that  I  shall  not  be 
able  to  repeat,  here  or  elsewhere,  such  a  ministry 
as  that  which  has  been  the  subject  of  this  review. 
The  largest  and  most  effective  portion  of  my  life 
is  past.  My  manhood  was  given  to  this  church, 
in  honest  and  earnest  labor.  Though  I  have 
some  years  yet  before  I  count  the  three-score, 
still  I  feel  that  the  infirmities  of  age  are  gradually 
creeping  over  me.  Time,  and  toil,  and  sickness 
have  left  their  impress  on  a  constitution  never 
robust,  and  often  too  severely  taxed.  The 
almond-tree  has  already  blossomed,  the  eye  has 
lost  its  keenness  of  vision,  and  the  heart  is  less 
buoyant  than  when  I  came  to  you  a  quarter  of  a 
century  since.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say  how  long 
I  may  be  permitted  to  continue  in  my  present 
relation.  I  leave  that  to  the  wise  decision  of 
Him  who  appoints  our  lot  and  regulates  our 
ways.      Under   any  circumstances,  I  could  not 


EEV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  41 

leave  this  church  without  the  deepest  regret.  It 
would  seem  like  leaving  home  and  beginning:  life 
anew.  I  have  been  here  too  long  not  to  love  the 
place  and  the  people.  Things  have  grown 
familiar  to  me.  I  have  pleasant  memories  with 
the  very  aspects  of  earth  and  sky.  These 
circling  hills  are  dear  unto  me.  It  cannot  be 
expected  that  I  should  ever  become  as  deeply 
attached  to  any  other  people  as  to  those  to  whom 
I  have  given  my  toils  and  cares,  my  prayers  and 
tears  for  so  many  years.  "When  I  die,"  said 
Queen  Mary,  "you  will  find  the  name  of  Calais 
written  on  my  heart."  Whether  here  or  else- 
where, in  this  world  or  in  eternity,  this  church 
will  ever  be  associated  with  my  best  and  happiest 
days.  The  past,  at  least,  is  secure.  If  I  have 
any  wish  for  the  future,  it  is  that  I  may  be  able 
to  labor  on  until  I  am  called  to  my  final  rest.  I 
have  an  instinctive  dread  of  a  decrepit,  helpless, 
and  profitless  old  age. 

But  I  weary  your  patience,  and  must  close. 
These  departed  years  have  a  special  monition  for 
me  to  be  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  When  Pompeii  was 
destroyed,  there  were  multitudes  buried  in  the 
ruins  of  it.  Some  were  found  in  the  streets,  as 
if  attempting  to  make  their  escape.     Some  were 


42  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

found  in  vaults,  as  if  they  had  gone  there  for 
security.  Some  were  found  in  saloons,  as  if  sur- 
prised in  their  pleasures.  But  where  did  they 
find  the  Roman  sentinel  ?  At  the  city  gate  where 
his  captain  had  placed  him,  with  his  hand  still 
grasping  his  war  weapon;  and  there,  while 
the  Heavens  threatened  him;  there  while  the 
earth  rocked  beneath  him ;  there,  while  the  lava 
stream  rolled  on,  he  stood  at  his  post;  and  there, 
after  seventeen  centuries  had  passed,  he  was 
found.  Brethren,  I  ask  your  earnest  prayers  for 
me,  that  I  may  continue  at  the  post  of  duty 
without  faltering  or  fainting.  I  am  not  weary 
of  my  work,  but  I  am  often  weary  in  it.  Here, 
to-day,  I  would  solemnly  renew  the  consecration 
of  my  heart's  best  affections,  and  my  whole  being 
to  that  Saviour  who  says  :  "Be  thou  faithful  unto 
death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 
Amen ! 


MEMORIAL   SERMON 

OF  TUB 

REV.  ELIAS  J.  RICHARDS,  D.D. 

TREACIIED  BY 

Rev.   WALLACE    RADCLIFFE, 

IN  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  READING,  PA., 
Sabbath  Evening,  Mat  5,  1872. 


MEMORIAL    SERMON. 


"Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 
Rev.  ii.  10,  last  clause. 

A  crown  of  life,  a  spiritual  diadem,  honor,  power, 
and  immortality,  a  blessing  that  shall  be  comprehensive, 
satisfying,  remunerative,  and  eternal;  a  life  of  contrasts 
and  cumulative  glory  ;  that,  whereas  there  has  been  in 
it  obscurity,  there  shall  be  renown,  whereas  denial,  there 
shall  be  restitution,  whereas  conflict,  there  shall  be 
victory,  whereas  pain,  there  shall  be  exquisite  gratifica- 
tion, whereas  a  living  death,  there  shall  be  a  life 
enduring  as  that  of  God,  a  life  in  which  whatsoever 
things  are  pure,  are  honest,  are  lovely,  are  of  good 
report,  whatsoever  a  perfect  being  can  desire,  what- 
soever a  perfected  being  can  be,  shall  be  appropriated — 
this  is  the  benediction  of  God  upon  His  accepted  ones. 
And  this  not  by  achievement  of  human  power,  nor  by 
limitation  of  worldly  accident,  but  as  the  gift  of  divine 
favor,  not  as  the  result  of  human  working,  but  as  the 
divine  reward  to  the  spirit  of  that  work.  And  herein 
is  the  divergence  between  human  and  divine  plans.     In 


46  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

the  accepted  theories  of  men,  the  result  is  rewarded 
independently  of  the  means  used,  and  the  stimulating 
ideas.  The  ruthless  hand  may  snatch  the  crown  from 
worthier  heads,  the  name  may  glitter  with  stolen 
splendor,  and  the  sceptre  wave  with  an  usurped 
authority,  the  march  may  have  been  over  the  heaped-up 
graves,  dishonored  vows,  and  prostituted  friendships; 
there  may  have  been  deceits,  injustices,  and  oppressions, 
but  the  processes  and  animating  principles  are  too  often 
condoned,  overlooked,  or  forgotten,  in  the  hilarity  and 
brilliancy  of  the  result.  Man  says,  Success  is  success. 
God  says,  Faithfulness  is  success.  There  may  be  no 
accumulated  fortune,  no  historic  name  nor  laurel  crown, 
not  even  the  comfort  and  approval  of  honest  industry, 
there  may  be  even  discomfort,  disappointment,  and 
evident  and  irremediable  failure  in  well-matured  desires 
and  plans,  and  yet  so  pure  has  been  the  spirit  of  the 
work,  so  faithful  to  every  revelation  of  the  right,  that 
the  whole  life  smiles  with  the  favor  of  God,  and  receives 
His  "  well-done,"  and  welcome  into  heaven.  The  real 
approval,  then,  that  which  is  permanent  and  sufficient, 
is  not  for  anything  which  can  be  gathered  up  with  the 
hand  or  looked  upon,  it  is  for  the  motive,  the  cherished 
principle,  the  measure  of  conscience.  The  divine  judg- 
ment has  no  factitious  standards,  is  not  amused  with 
superficial  glitter,  is  not  dazed  with  temporary  advan- 
tage, these  and  all  things  carnal  and  earthly  are  but  the 
accidents  of  existence — the  fine  dust  in  the  balance  that 
are  as  nothing  against  the  principles  of  action — the 
essentials  of  the  life.     And  such  is  a  standard  adapted 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  47 

to  human  wants.  It  is  practical.  It  is  attainable.  It 
is  enduring.  Every  man  can  run.  Every  man  cannot 
grasp  a  prize.  Every  man  can  fight.  Every  man  cannot 
be  victor.  Every  man  can  be  faithful.  Every  man 
cannot  be  renowned.  To  be  faithful  is  to  surrender 
one's  self  to  Christ,  to  acknowledge  His  authority,  and 
accept  His  service,  and,  therefore,  to  refer  the  whole 
life  to  His  direction.  It  is  to  acquiesce  in  His  will,  and 
to  see  the  present  work,  the  present  condition  of  things, 
as  the  expression  of  that  will  to  you.  It  is  to  do  the 
work  thus  set  to  your  hand  diligently,  constantly,  in  love 
to  Him  who  has  appointed  it,  and  to  those  affected  by 
it.  It  is  to  go  on  conscientiously  in  the  Providential 
labor,  though  there  seem  no  result,  resting  in  the  wisdom 
of  Him  appointing,  and  in  the  verity  of  His  word  that 
what  you  know  not  now  you  shall  know  hereafter. 

The  faithful  Christian  is  but  the  trusty  servant,  who 
hears  the  Master's  will  and  carries  the  burden,  or  runs 
the  errand,  not  dictating  nor  interrogating,  nor  worry- 
ing about  the  end.  And  just  such  simple,  homely, 
available,  straightforwardness  in  the  discharge  of  daily 
duties  God  honors  as  the  highest  virtue  of  man.  It  is 
within  reach  of  the  little  child,  and  adorns  the  hoary 
temples  of  age.  It  glorifies  the  peasant's  hut,  and 
becomes  the  throned  monarch  better  than  his  crown. 
It  dignifies  the  humblest  act,  and  adds  lustre  to  the 
most  exalted.  It  receives  the  last  final  approval.  It 
enters  heaven. 

It  is  to  the  contemplation  of  such  a  faithfulness, 
completed  and  honored,  that  we  gather  here  to-night. 


48  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

There  walked  one  among  yon  for  twenty-five  years, 
meek,  unassuming,  yet  self-possessed  and  reliant,  quiet 
in  his  assured  purpose,  hopeful,  and  sympathetic  in  his 
set  work,  following  in  the  steps  as  they  were  ordered, 
sowing  the  seed,  nor  repining  because  the  harvest  was 
not  yet;  laying  the  foundations,  nor  disappointed  that 
another  must  build  thereupon ;  witnessing  in  weariness, 
"in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling;" 
faithful  unto  death,  and  he  is  not,  for  God  has  called 
him  to  his  coronation. 

In  pronouncing  this  eulogy  upon  your  departed  pastor, 
no  one  feels  more  keenly  than  I  that  one  of  such  recent 
and  limited  acquaintance  should  speak  to  you  of  him 
whom  you  have  known  for  so  many  years  in  the 
intimate  friendships  and  Christian  sympathies  of  the 
pastorate.  I  feel  in  every  way  unequal.  As  I  recall 
the  many  reminiscences  that  have  fallen  from  your  lips 
of  his  tenderness,  his  delicate  susceptibility,  his  natural 
pathos  as  he  sought  to  comfort  you  concerning  your 
departed  ones,  his  words  that  wept,  his  eyes  suffused 
with  the  sympathy  his  faltering  lips  could  not  speak, 
I  cannot  but  think  of  the  confession  of  another  when 
about  to  pronounce  an  encomium  upon  Rome's  greatest 
orator,  "  There  is  need  of  Cicero  himself  to  be  his  own 
fit  eulogist."  There  is  need  at  least  that  some  of  those 
older  friends  who  had  mingled  their  prayers  and 
counsels  with  his,  and  stood  by  him  in  the  burden  and 
heat  of  the  day,  should  speak  of  his  worth  from  the 
riches  of  their  own  experience.  But  Wallace,  Brainerd, 
Barnes,  they  preceded  him  out  of  the  tribulation,  they 


REV.  ELI  AS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  49 

rest  from  their  labors,  and  already  robed  and  crowned 
have  welcomed  him  to  the  joy  of  the  Lord.  But  after 
all  what  need  were  there  of  men  and  occasions?  "What 
were  tearful  voice,  or  tender  words,  or  glowing  periods, 
to  that  life  which,  simple  and  uneventful  though  it 
were,  in  its  serene  faith,  its  humble  work,  its  fidelity, 
its  good  results,  and  precious  memory,  is  its  own  best 
eulogy  ? 

The  main  features  in  his  life  are  doubtless  familiar  to 
all,  because  of  your  long  acquaintance,  and  their  recent 
and  frequent  publicity. 

Elias  Jones  Richards,  the  son  of  Hugh  and  Jane 
Ellis  Jones  Richards,  was  born  January  14,  1813,  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Dee,  in  the  west  of  England,  not  many 
miles  from  the  town  of  Llangollen,  in  Wales,  whose 
famous  vale  is  noted  for  its  picturesque  beauties  and  its 
antiquities.  His  ancestors  were  tillers  of  the  soil,  the 
principal  industry  of  the  surrounding  region.  The 
father  was  an  adherent  of  the  Presbyterian  faith,  and 
his  mother  a  devout  member  of  the  Church  of  England. 
This  good  woman  died  when  her  son  Elias  was  but  four 
years  of  age.  For  her  he  always  cherished  the  fondest 
regard,  his  memory  with  a  remarkable  tenacity  extend- 
ing back  to  those  early  years  and  retaining  some  idea  of 
her  personal  appearance  and  maternal  care.  He  carried 
through  life  the  conviction  that  she  expressed  the  wish 
for  his  devotion  to  the  ministry,  which  fact  no  doubt 
strengthened  his  subsequent  purpose.  About  a  year 
after  the  death  of  his  wife,  Hugh  Richards  left  his 
native  land  for  America,  whither  his  elder  brother  John 
4 


50  MEMORIAL    OP   THE 

had  years  before  preceded  him,  and,  as  a  land  surveyor, 
had  already  amassed  considerable  means  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Of  his  six  children, 
Hugh  Richards  brought  four  with  him,  the  two  younger, 
Jane  and  Richard,  remaining  behind  until  some  years 
after.  Johnsburg,  Warren  Co.,  N".  Y.,was  the  destina- 
tion of  the  emigrant  family,  and,  in  what  was  then  a 
wilderness  country,  the  father  re-engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Utica,  Oneida 
Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  died  a  few  years  afterwards.  He  left 
his  family  but  little,  and  the  little  circle  of  orphaned 
children  was  scattered.  Of  the  six  children,  three  now 
survive.  All  through  life,  Elias  J.  Richards  had  the 
power  of  attracting  warm  friendships,  whose  sympathy 
and  aid  were  ever  prompt  and  generous.  The  earliest 
and  most  directive  he  found  in  Judge  Jonas  Piatt,  of 
Utica,  a  lawyer  of  extensive  practice  in  that  place  and 
in  New  York  city,  who  assumed  the  care  and  expense 
of  his  education.  By  his  assistance  the  youth  was 
enabled  to  attend  a  preparatory  school  in  New  York,  and 
afterwards,  in  1829,  the  Bloomfield  Academy,  Bloom- 
field,  N.  J.  He  entered  Princeton  College  in  1831,  and 
while  yet  an  undergraduate,  the  choice  for  his  life-work 
was  presented  him  by  his  benefactor  between  a  mercan- 
tile life,  the  legal,  and  the  ministerial  professions.  A 
week  was  given  for  decision.  The  opportunities  pre- 
sented in  such  an  emporium  for  success  in  either  of  the 
first  two  callings,  with  their  attendant  prospects  of 
speedy  wealth,  luxury,  influence,  and  position,  must 
have  been  seductive  allurements  at  that  buoyant  period 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  51 

when  the  world  looks  brightest  and  its  promises  seem 
most  certain  of  realization.  For  this  was  no  vague 
offer.  The  places  were  open,  and  the  prospects  promising 
for  pecuniary  and  social  advancement.  !Nor  was  his 
choice  with  the  wisdom  of  ignorance.  He  knew  the 
contrast,  accumulation  and  self-aggrandizement  as  op- 
posed to  the  sacrifices  and  privations  of  the  ministry. 
But  he  consulted  not  with  flesh  and  blood.  He  has 
told  me  that  his  decision  was  made  the  moment  he  heard 
the  offer.  He  hailed  it  as  an  unexpected  answer  to  his 
desires,  and,  though  he  permitted  the  week  to  intervene, 
he  never  wavered  from  this  judgment.  JSTot  only,  nor 
for  the  most  part,  attracted  by  literary  tastes  to  a  field 
which  promised  their  cultivation,  but  driven  by  the 
promptings  of  conscience,  which  was  to  him  the  voice  of 
God,  he  elected  to  preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  The  sudden  death  of  Judge  Piatt  during  the 
collegiate  course  of  the  young  man  prevented  him  from 
seeing  the  full  fruition  of  his  benefaction,  and  was  a  sad 
blow  to  its  grateful  recipient.  As  regards  the  time  of, 
or  circumstances  connected  with  his  conversion,  nothing 
definite  is  known.  It  appears  to  have  been  previous  to 
his  entrance  upon  college  life.  It  may  have  been  under 
the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Gr.  Finney,  an  eminent 
evangelist  of  that  period,  of  whose  powerful  labors  sub- 
sequently in  this  church  there  are  many  still  remaining 
to  testify,  or  through  the  influence  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Spring,  of  New  York  city,  with  whose  church  he  be- 
came connected,  whose  counsel  he  often  sought,  and  of 
whom  he  always  spoke  in  terms  of  respect  and  affection. 


52  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

It  is  related  by  a  living  witness  that  as  early  as  1830, 
while  he  was  attending  the  Academy  at  Bloomfield,  X.  J., 
there  was  a  revival  of  religion  in  the  town,  and  that  he 
appeared  in  the  scenes  and  Christian  labors  of  the  prayer- 
meetings  and  the  Sabbath-schools.  It  is  very  probable 
that  this  is  one  of  those  occasional  instances  where  a 
character  susceptible  and  surrounded  by  good  influences 
gradually  and  almost  unconsciously  emerges  into  the 
light  and  enlarged  experiences  of  the  Christian  life, 
and  that  whatever  changes  transpired,  either  under  the 
preaching  of  these  honored  servants  of  Christ,  or  subse- 
quently, when  amid  the  hallowed  influences  of  Princeton, 
they  were  but  successive  developments  in  that  spiritual 
life  which  had  been  begun  in  his  youth.  In  1834  he 
graduated  from  the  College  of  Xew  Jersey,  already 
known  and  honored  among  his  classmates  for  that  taste 
and  ability  in  belles-lettres  which  afterwards  became  so 
prominent  and  cultured.  In  the  same  year,  being 
threatened  with  a  pulmonary  affection,  he  was  enabled, 
through  the  kind  offices  of  another  valued  friend,  the 
Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  Newark,  K  J.,  to  ob- 
tain a  situation  as  tutor  in  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  a  posi- 
tion facilitating  his  desired  recuperation.  Here  again 
he  found  friends,  who  opened  the  way,  if  he  had  chosen, 
to  the  study  and  successful  practice  of  medicine.  The 
kindness  and  congeniality  of  the  friendships  here  formed 
were  among  the  cherished  themes  of  his  last  days. 
Having  remained  here  for  one  year,  he  returned  to 
Princeton  and  graduated  at  the  Theological  Seminary 
in  1838,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  spring  of  the 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  53 

same  year  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  His  strong 
inclination  was  to  return  to  his  friends  in  Virginia,  or  to 
seek,  in  the  genial  clime  and  tropical  beauties  of  the 
further  south,  his  home  and  work.  There  was  but  one 
obstacle  across  that  enticing  path.  He  had  looked  upon 
slavery  and  hated  it,  and  could  not  begin  his  career  as  a 
Christian  teacher  with  an  implied  compromise  of  views 
already  fixed  and  advanced. 

He  was  commissioned  as  an  evangelist,  and  preached 
for  one  year — 1839 — in  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan.  His 
health  failing,  he  returned  east  in  1840,  and  organized 
the  Second  (N.  S.)  Presbyterian  Church,  Paterson,  New 
Jersey,  where  he  remained  but  two  }Tears,  being  called 
in  1842  to  the  Western  (N.  S.)  Presbyterian  Church, 
Philadelphia. 

Of  his  professional  work  up  to,  and  including  this,  we 
know  but  little.  To  say  that  it  was  uneventful  in  that 
which  commands  popular  gaze  and  plaudit  for  itself  is 
only  to  place  upon  it  the  common  stamp  of  the  faithful 
pastorate.  Its  informing  principle  is  to  count  all  things 
but  loss  that  he  may  win  Christ  and  attract  souls  to 
Him.  The  man  is  the  minister  and  the  minister  is  the 
man,  the  life  is  the  profession  and  the  profession  is  the 
life.  Of  this  we  feel  sure,  that  everywhere  that  he  has 
preached  and  prayed  "his  works  do  follow  him." 

In  1846  he  was  called  three  times  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  at  Reading,  Pa.  He  finally  yielded 
to  what  he  felt  to  be  the  importunate  call  of  duty,  and 
took  charge  of  this  church  in  July,  1846,  and  was 
installed  on  the  fourteenth  of  October,  in  the  same  year. 


51  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

Here  began  his  lite-work.  The  preceding  years,  with 
their  tossings  and  tremblings  and  experimentings,  had 
been  but  probationary,  but  preparative.  The  sapling 
had  been  transferred  from  one  garden  to  another  until 
here  it  became  a  tree  of  the  Lord,  full  of  sap,  its  roots 
penetrating  deep  and  on  every  side  into  countless  hearts 
and  homes,  its  wide  branches  covering  and  yielding 
fruit  to  the  fathers  and  children  of  many  generations. 
For  more  than  twenty-five  years  he  stood  here  the 
messenger  from  God.  For  twenty-five  years — what 
changes  he  saw,  what  work  he  did !  He  came  to 
Reading  and  found  it,  as  he  expressed  it,  "a  quaint 
little  Dutch  town  up  among  the  mountains  ;"  he  saw  it 
enlarging  its  boundaries  and  population,  multiplying 
and  adorning  its  buildings,  extending  the  variety  and 
reach  of  its  business,  enriching  its  people,  and  advancing 
in  every  importance  and  power  until  it  became  the 
third  city  in  the  State.  He  found  you  in  "The  Old 
White  Church;"  it  was  his  privilege  to  transfer  you  to 
this  tasteful  and  commodious  structure.  He  found  you 
a  few  sheep  in  the  wilderness ;  he  left  you  the  leading 
church  in  the  Presbytery  of  Lehigh.  At  the  beginning 
of  his  pastorate,  the  church  roll  numbered  one  hundred 
and  sixty  members.  He  has  admitted  more  than  five 
hundred  to  your  communion,  three-fifths  of  whom  were 
upon  profession  of  faith,  -and  the  actual  number  upon 
the  roll  at  the  time  of  his  decease  was  four  hundred  and 
thirty.  Time  and  again  there  have  been  the  seasons  of 
refreshing  from  the  Lord,  increasing  the  burdens  of  his 
isolated  work,  but  multiplying  his  joys  as  the  fruits  of 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  55 

the  increase  have  been  brought  into  this  storehouse  of 
God.  He  has  preached  for  you  more  than  three 
thousand  sermons,  and  been  with  you  at  a  hundred 
communions.  He  has  baptized  and  married  many  of 
you,  watched  and  prayed  over  the  spiritual  instruction 
of  your  children,  received  you  and  them  into  the  com- 
munion of  the  church,  comforted  you  when  sick  or 
distressed,  stood  by  the  bedside  of  your  dying,  buried 
your  dead,  like  his  Master  of  old,  bearing  your  griefs 
and  carrying  your  sorrows.  And  he  was  thus  instant 
in  season  and  out  of  season.  For  years  he  carried  that 
wearied  suffering  body  into  duty,  unconscious  himself 
of  the  extent  of  the  insidious  disease,  standing  in  this 
pulpit  and  following  you  to  your  homes  for  ministry  to 
you,  when  he  should  have  been  upon  his  couch  receiving 
from  you  your  ministry  of  love  and  relief.  Nor  did  he 
remain  at  this  post  by  necessity,  other  than  that  of 
conscience;  the  solicitations  to  other  fields  were  many 
and  flattering,  which  were  set  aside  because  of  his  firm 
conviction  of  duty  to  remain.  But  how  shall  state- 
ments and  dry  statistics  measure  the  fulness  of  a 
Christian  work?  Can  you  gauge  the  power  and  reach 
of  one  wave?  How  then  will  you  when  they  are 
innumerable?  Silently,  steadily  through  all  these  years 
the  influences  have  gone  forth  from  his  words  and 
labors,  duplicating  and  reduplicating  themselves,  trans- 
ferring from  father  to  son,  rolling  wave  upon  wave,  until 
the  word  spoken  in  this  place  has  found  its  echo  on  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  or  upon  another  continent.  Im- 
pressions, experiences,  lives,  the  consolations  that  have 


56  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

been  spoken,  the  miseries  that  have  been  alleviated,  the 
wavering  that  have  been  strengthened,  the  perplexed 
that  have  been  enlightened,  the  wandering  that  have 
been  reclaimed,  the  lives  that  have  been  purified,  the 
hopes  that  have  been  conferred,  the  souls  that  have  been 
saved  because  he  lived,  cannot  be  measured  nor  reckoned, 
and  will  be  known  only  when  the  Day  will  declare  to 
him  and  to  us. 

In  noting  the  public  work  of  his  ministry,  it  would 
ill  become  me,  it  would  be  wrong,  not  to  remind  you 
that  its  influence  was  consecrated  to  the  cause  of 
Christian  patriotism.  It  was  his  privilege  to  stand  in 
this  high  tower  in  the  time  of  national  peril,  and  send 
forth  the  certain  sound  that  warmed  and  strengthened 
the  patriot  heart.  It  is  the  calm  testimony  that  I  have 
heard  more  than  once,  that  "he  did  more  than  any 
other  one  man  in  this  city  to  encourage  the  hearts  of 
the  people  and  uphold  the  integrity  of  the  government." 
Certain  it  is  that  men  knew  where  he  stood,  that  he 
loved  his  country,  that  he  hoped  and  believed  through 
everything,  seeing  the  flag  through  the  clouds,  and 
giving  of  his  confidence  to  other  trembling  ones,  that 
he  prayed  and  preached  and  wrote  and  sanctified  every 
influence  of  this  post  to  the  interests  of  freedom  and 
loyalty.  That  were  sufficient  to  make  his  memory 
green  to  every  Christian  patriot. 

As  regards  the  literary  virtues  of  these  and  all  his 
public  efforts,  I  doubt  not  your  larger  experience  Mould 
not  only  confirm,  but  enhance  the  usual  testimony  to 
their  excellence.     lie  had  superior  intellectual  abilities, 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  57 

cultivated  and  enriched  by  a  learning  wide  and  intimate. 
He  was  a  reader,  a  student,  and  a  scholar.  lie  loved 
books,  books  for  the  books'  sake  as  well  as  for  what  was 
in  them.  I  remember  him  looking  upon  his  books 
with  an  affection  which  any  scholar  can  understand,  as 
he  said :  "They  are  a  poor  legacy,  but  a  very  delightful 
investment."  His  mind  was  wide,  clear,  discriminating, 
and  well  furnished.  "While  his  research  was  mainly 
and  necessarily  in  the  direction  of  theology,  his  sym- 
pathies were  not  limited  by  professional  lines.  Espe- 
cially were  his  tastes  marked  and  encouraged  in  the 
line  of  belles-lettres.  He  was  known  as  a  fine  English 
scholar,  that  is,  well  informed  in  the  literature  of  the 
English  language.  I  doubt  not  that  had  he  yielded 
to  his  natural  inclination,  the  close  of  life  would  have 
found  him  upon  a  literary  journal  or  in  the  professor's 
chair.  As  it  was,  it  gave  beauty  and  attractiveness  to 
all  his  work.  It  imparted  neatness,  grace,  and  classic 
finish  to  his  most  hurried  sermons,  to  his  careless 
conversation  a  quiet  humor  and  fancy,  that  played  in 
the  mellow  sheen  rather  than  startled  by  a  comet's 
flash,  a  sprightliness  to  his  most  trite  utterances,  an 
ability  and  cultivation  that  made  him  a  leading 
contributor,  and  one  of  the  most  acceptable,  to  the 
papers  and  reviews  of  his  denomination.  In  1843  he 
prepared  for  publication  a  memoir  of  Mrs.  Morrison, 
who  died  in  Calcutta,  India,  whither  she  had  gone  as 
a  missionary  with  her  husband,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morrison. 
But  he  denied  himself  many  such  excursions  into  the 


58  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

literary  field,  however  congenial,  that  he  might  prepare 
beaten  oil  for  the  sanctuary. 

In  his  personal  character  the  traits  were  many  and 
rare  which  made  him  loved  and  honored  as  the 
exemplary  citizen,  the  sympathizing  friend,  the  faithful 
pastor,  and  pure  Christian.  He  was  kind,  tender- 
hearted as  a  woman,  sensitive,  ready  to  judge  every 
one's  sensibilities  by  his  own,  forbearing  even  to  a  fault, 
eager  ever  to  find  or  to  imagine  some  palliation  or 
extenuation  of  the  wrong-doing,  continuously  illus- 
trating the  exhortation  of  the  Apostle,  "considering 
thyself  lest  thou  also  be  tempted."  This  tenderness 
many  of  you  have  often  known  as  he  came  to  you  with 
the  words  of  consolation,  but  could  only  speak  his 
message  by  his  grasp  of  the  hand  and  his  own  falling 
tears.  This  sentiment  of  his  personal  life  restrained 
him  ofttimes  in  his  official  acts.  Discipline  was  to  him, 
as  to  every  kindly  heart,  an  unpleasant  thing.  He 
would  have  shirked  it  if  he  could.  He  would  rather 
any  day  have  been  the  culprit  than  the  judge.  Rather 
than  mount  the  bench  to  sentence,  he  would  go  down  to 
weep  with  the  offender.  It  was  this  in  all  his  relations 
that  fitted  him  to  be  the  approachable,  genial  com- 
panion, and  made  his  speech  so  often  like  "apples  of 
gold  in  baskets  of  silver." 

lie  was  a  man  of  peace.  He  deprecated  contentions. 
He  was  not  at  home  amid  the  strifes  of  deliberative 
bodies.  He  turned  from  controversy  not  through 
inability,  but  dislike.  His  place  would  have  been  not 
in  Ephesus,  but  in  the  Isle  of  Tatmos,  and  his  beloved 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  59 

disciple  would  have  been  not  Peter  but  John.  Hence 
his  unusual  popularity  outside  of  his  own  denomination. 
He  gave  to  others  the  liberty  he  claimed  for  himself. 
He  shut  his  eyes  to  differences,  and  sought  some  common 
ground  for  recognition  and  communion.  And  yet,  with 
all  this  charity,  is  there  one  to  rise  and  charge  unfaith- 
fulness, in  teaching  or  influence,  to  the  church  of  his 
adoption  ?  He  rightly  thought  that  differences,  both 
social  and  ecclesiastical,  were  sooner  healed  by  ignoring 
than  by  notice  and  attack. 

His  life  was  a  daily  illustration  of  the  apostolic 
exhortation:  "As  much  as  lieth  in  you,  live  peaceably 
with  all  men."  When  he  was  reviled,  he  reviled  not 
again.  "When  he  suffered,  he  threatened  not.  That 
was  his  highest  encomium  conveyed  in  the  challenge  of 
his  friend :  "  "Where  is  the  trouble  that  he  ever  made?" 
But  who  will  count  the  troubles  he  prevented,  or  has 
healed?  Hence  it  was  that  he  was  so  sought  as 
counsellor  by  conflicting  parties  before  our  church 
courts.  Hence  it  was  that  he  hailed  the  first  token  and 
labored  so  assiduously  for  that  re-union  of  his  beloved 
church,  whose  consummation  God  permitted  him  to 
behold.  It  was  in  the  recognition  of  these  labors,  and 
of  that  peace-loving  disposition  for  which  he  was  so 
eminent,  that  in  June,  1870,  he  was,  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  elected  the  first  Moderator  of  the  re-united  Synod 
of  Philadelphia.  And  yet  this  charity  and  desire  for 
peace  were  not,  as  they  so  often  are,  the  result  of 
inability  or  indifference. 

He  knew  what  he  believed.     He  formed  opinions,  he 


GO  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

held  and  defended  them.  lie  was  a  thoughtful  man,  a 
man  of  clear  judgment,  of  quick  perception,  and  keen 
discrimination,  a  reliability  and  worth  that  are  attested 
by  the  work  he  has  done,  and  the  trusts  and  honors  he 
has  received  of  the  church.  But  I  doubt  not  changes 
have  been  projected,  opinions  formed,  and  resolutions 
made  which  have  not  been  accomplished  because  of  this 
overmastering  charity  and  tenderness  that  recognized 
in  other  hearts  a  sensitiveness  equal  to  his  own,  and 
that  would  not  offend  so  much  as  a  little  child.  And 
all  this  was  sustained,  sweetened,  and  purified  by  an 
abiding  faith  in  the  Christ,  whom  he  preached.  It 
seems,  it  was  providential,  that,  just  before  his  last 
illness,  iu  his  quarter-century  discourse,  he  should  make 
formal  confession  of  that  faith  which  had  been  his  for 
forty  years,  that  there  might  be  a  denial  to  every 
questioning  and  the  comfort  of  a  certain  and  reasonable 
hope  to  those  that  remain.  It  is  in  his  own  words. 
"I  have  no  doubt  of  the  reality  and  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion.  .  .  .  The  doctrines  of  grace — 
atonement  by  the  blood  of  a  dying  Saviour,  justification 
by  His  righteousness,  sanctification  by  the  spirit  of  God, 
and  the  guarantees  of  saintship,  and  sonship — these  are 
shrined  within  my  heart.  ...  I  expect  to  be  saved 
through  no  merit  of  my  own,  but  by  the  grace  of  God' 
in  Jesus  Christ.  Through  Him  alone  have  I  righteous- 
ness and  peace.  .  .  .  This  hope  has  been  my  stay 
and  support,  my  delight  and  comfort.  ...  Its 
resources  and  provisions  arc  all-sufficient  for  my  spiritual 
necessities.      And    now,  when   the   shadows   begin   to 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  61 

lengthen,  I  look  with  composure  into  the  tomb,  and 
with  -joyful  anticipations  to  my  heavenly  home  in  the 
skies." 

The  closing  words  seem  prophetic.  Scarcely  had  he 
thus  declared  himself,  when  God,  by  the  hand  of  disease, 
put  him  to  the  last  test  of  his  faith.  That  painful, 
lingering  illness  you  all  remember.  It  was  my 
privilege  to  be  often  with  him,  and  in  the  last  hour  of 
his  consciousness  to  kneel  by  his  bedside,  and  I  give 
you  record  this  day  that  never,  by  word  or  sign,  did  I 
have  aught  to  signify  that  he  had  wavered  or  changed 
in  his  faith,  or  that  its  promised  rod  and  staff  had 
failed  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  During 
his  illness  he  bore  its  pains  with  fortitude,  and  was 
hopeful  of  restoration  and  prolonged  life.  He  wanted 
to  live.  But  let  not  that  be  misunderstood  as  a  cling- 
ing to  life  for  life's  sake,  or  as  a  fear  of  death  for  death's 
sake.  It  was  to  do  duty  better,  and  to  complete  his 
work.  It  is  not  unchristian  to  desire  to  live.  The 
good  Hezekiah  in  bitterness  turned  toward  the  wall 
and  prayed  for  life,  and  God  lengthened  his  days.  It 
was  for  Christian  life  and  work  that  your  pastor 
wished,  and  that  same  grace  that  created  the  wish  for 
longer  days  enabled  him,  in  the  last  struggle,  to  commend 
Ms  incomplete  work  and  all  that  he  loved  into  the  hands 
of  a  covenant-keeping  God,  and  to  say,  "  The  will  of  the 
Lord  be  done."  So  he  died,  and  was  saved  from  that 
which  had  been  his  apprehension  through  many  years, 
"a  decrepit,  helpless,  and  profitless  old  age."  So  he 
died,  and  there  was  lamentation  in  Israel,  and  devout 


G2       •  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

men  carried  him  to  his  burial.  It  is  meet  that  in 
yonder  cemetery  he  should  lie  in  the  midst  of  those  to 
whom  he  had  been  the  minister  of  strength  and 
consolation  by  his  presence,  reminding  the  living  of 
his  calls  of  grace,  and  waiting  with  his  trusting  flock 
to  hear  the  summons,  that  they  may  together  rise  in  the 
resurrection  and  the  life. 

He  has  gone,  passed  from  this  family  to  that  family 
that  is  named  of  Christ,  from  this  city  to  that  other 
which  hath  foundations,  from  this  solemn  assembly  to 
the  innumerable  company  of  the  worshipping  angels, 
from  this  church  to  the  church  of  the  first-born  whose 
names  are  written  in  heaven,  from  the  uncongenial 
associations  and  jarrings  of  sinful  men  to  the  glorious 
company  of  the  Apostles,  to  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the 
prophets,  to  the  noble  army  of  martyrs. 

It  is  the  end.  The  hand  is  nerveless,  the  pen  is 
dropped,  the  sentence  is  left  unfinished,  and  he  that 
would  know  further  of  his  earthly  being  must  trace  it 
in  the  dust  that  has  returned  to  dust.  The  book  is 
closed,  and  closed  it  must  remain  until  lie  shall  come 
who  has  in  His  hand  the  keys  of  death.  The  workman 
dies,  but  his  work  is  immortal.  Upon  that  foundation 
from  the  wise  Master-Builder,  the  gold,  the  silver,  the 
precious  stones  which  he  built  cannot  perish.  They 
remain  the  testimony  to  his  faithfulness  and  assurance 
of  his  reward,  the  assertion  of  your  opportunities,  and 
the  demand  for  your  acknowledgment. 

Then,  though  his  form  be  no  longer  seen,  nor  his 
voice  heard  in  these  accustomed  scenes,  it  is  well  that 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  63 

ofttimes  here  and  round  your  family  hearth-stones  you 
recall  his  character  and  labors.  For  the  lives  of  such  as 
he  are  the  reiterated  assurance  to  the  world  that  the 
tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men.  It  is  good  for  the 
world  that  such  as  he  have  lived  and  died.  Of  how 
few,  even  of  the  known  and  favored,  may  that  be  said? 
But  the  life  of  a  good  man !  It  is  an  emphatic 
testimony  against  error,  and  selfishness,  and  injustice, 
and  all  wrong-doing:  it  arrests  the  heedlessness  of  the 
racing  world,  it  transfers  to  earth  the  holiness  of 
heaven,  it  incarnates  the  beauty  of  Christ,  it  exhales  on 
all  around  purity  and  truth,  and,  departing,  leaves 
behind  it  the  fragrance  and  fruits  of  a  real  spiritual  life. 
Gather  to  yourselves  the  fruits  of  this  life;  cherish  its 
admonitions  ;  respect  its  precepts ;  emulate  its  fidelity ; 
imitate  its  faith;  solicit  its  simplicity;  guard  its  im- 
mortal work;  enshrine  its  memory  in  your  hearts  and 
its  virtues  in  your  lives. 

But  words  and  occasions  are  vain.  What  is  the 
judgment  of  men  to  him  who  has  already  appeared 
before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ?  What  are  our 
fading  laurels  to  that  brow  already  honored  with  the 
crown  of  life  to  which  immortal  gems  are  adding  their 
lustre,  as  one  by  one  your  souls  ascend,  redeemed  and 
resplendent  in  heavenly  glory. 

Let  fond  hands,  if  they  will,  twine  the  laurel  and 
scatter  fresh  flowers  upon  the  grave,  let  skilful  hands 
uplift  the  storied  monument,  or  modest  tablet  tell  the 
passing  traveler  his  many  virtues,  but  let  this  be  your 
memorial — better  than  fading  flowers  or  breathed-out 


G4  MEMORIAL    OF   THE 

praise,  more  enduring  than  brass,  and  purer  than  the 
Parian  marble — a  life  animated  by  the  same  faith, 
purified  by  the  same  love,  irradiated  by  the  same  hope, 
and  consecrated  to  the  same  God,  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Listen  to  his  voice  as  it  comes  to  you  through  so 
many  sanctified  channels,  lingering  round  your  homes 
and  hearts,  your  bedsides  and  your  closets,  speaking  in 
the  precious  memories  and  sacred  offices  of  this  hallowed 
spot,  breathing  through  the  solemn  stillness  of  this 
hour,  calling  in  the  realities  and  suggestions  of  }Ton 
new-made  grave ;  listen,  it  is  the  voice  of  the  dead : 
"  Remember  not  me,  but  the  words  which  I  spake  unto 
you  while  I  was  yet  present  with  you.  Choose  the 
Saviour  I  have  chosen.  Live  for  heaven.  Live  for 
immortality."  And  if  thou  wouldst  have  thy  memory 
fragrant  and  thy  work  eternal,  if  thou  wouldst  abide 
upon  the  earth  and  yet  be  forever  honored  with  the 
heavenly  coronation,  be  thou  faithful,  be  thou  faithful 
unto  death.     Amen. 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  65 


THE   CLOSING   SCENES. 


The  close  of  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  the  pastorate  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Richards  in  Reading,  was  an  epoch  in  his 
ministry  which  made  a  profound  impression  upon  his 
mind.  This,  it  may  he  presumed,  was  the  result  hoth 
of  the  natural  emotion  which  a  review  of  his  life  and 
lahors  during  that  long  and  eventful  period  stirred  up 
in  his  deeply  sensitive  and  sympathetic  breast,  and  the 
significant  bearing  which  manifestly  increasing  physical 
infirmities  exerted  over  his  future.  In  his  Quarter- 
Century  Sermon — an  effort  that  does  enduring  credit  to 
his  mind  and  heart,  and  which  contributed  to  cement 
still  more  deeply  the  feeling  of  attachment  for  him  on 
the  part  of  the  people  with  whom  he  lived  and  labored 
the  greater  portion  of  the  effective  period  of  his  life — 
he  refers  to  a  consciousness  of  bodily  decline,  but 
trustingly  forbears  to  forecast  his  lot  during  the 
remaining  days  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that,  when  he  thus  wrote,  his  health 
had  already  been  threatened  in  such  a  way  as  to  begin 
to  awaken  his  serious  apprehensions.  Yet  he  was 
hopeful,  and  he  closes  this  tenderly  conceived  aud 
5 


06  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

touching  discourse  with  the  expression  of  the  heroic 
impulse  that  animated  the  Roman  sentinel — to  die  at 
the  post  of  duty.  It  seems,  indeed,  a  remarkable 
dispensation  of  Providence,  that  this  good  and  useful 
man  was  to  end  his  earthly  labors  so  soon  after  turning 
aside  to  mark  the  progress  he  had  made  in  his 
journeyings  with  this  people — that  so  soon  after  impart- 
ing to  them  his  blessing  he  was  to  mount  up,  as  Moses 
of  old,  on  Nebo,  and  be  translated  to  the  promised  land. 

The  Quarter-Century  Sermon,  preached  on  the  9th  of 
July,  1871,  was  the  last  pulpit  production  he  ever 
wrote.  The  middle  of  the  summer  had  arrived,  and  his 
congregation  tendered  him  an  unlimited  respite  from 
his  labors.  The  three  following  Sabbaths  he  occupied 
his  pulpit  as  usual.  The  last  sermon  he  preached  was 
delivered  in  his  church  on  Sunday  evening,  July  30. 
It  was  from  the  text,  Job  xxix.  18 :  "  Then  I  said,  I 
shall  die  in  my  nest,  and  I  shall  multiply  my  days  as 
the  sand."  The  theme  of  this  discourse  was  the 
Disappointments  of  Life,  and  in  it  he  showed  how 
often  our  plans  are  overruled  by  God's  decrees — how 
men  count  upon  life  as  the  medium  of  gain  and  good, 
and  how  God  frequently  overthrows  their  schemes  by 
requiring  their  souls  of  them  at  such  times  as  they 
think  not  of. 

He  left  Reading  on  Tuesday,  August  1,  for  a  visit  of 
a  fortnight  to  a  brother  residing  on  a  farm  in  the 
vicinity  of  Utica,  New  York.  The  Sabbath  following, 
August  6,  he  attended  church  in  the  vicinity.  It  was 
the   communion    season,   and    he   participated    in    the 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  67 

ordinance,   and,   being    called    upon,   delivered   a   few 
remarks  at  the  distribution  of  the  elements. 

The  day  was  warm  and  sultry,  and,  returning  home, 
he,  in  the  afternoon,  threw  himself  upon  the  floor  of  the 
country  house,  without  his  coat,  and  thus  passed  a  couple 
of  hours  in  reading.  In  the  evening  he  again  exposed 
himself  similarly  in  the  open  air,  conversing  until  a  late 
hour  beneath  the  tall  trees  in  front  of  the  dwelling. 
The  same  night  he  was  seized  with  an  attack  of 
illness,  which  at  once  assumed  a  painful  and  alarming 
character.  The  effect  of  the  cold  he  had  taken,  it  was 
the  subsequently  expressed  medical  opinion,  was  simply 
to  accelerate  the  development  of  the  disease  which  had 
lain  dormant  for  some  time  in  his  system  (an  affection 
of  the  kidneys,  of  the  chronic  type),  and  which 
eventually  brought  him  to  his  end.  On  Tuesday  his 
family  in  Reading  were  telegraphed  for,  and  his  wife 
and  eldest  son  hastened  to  his  bedside,  arriving  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  following  day.  They  found  him 
rather  more  comfortable,  having  successfully  passed 
through  au  agonizing  crisis  in  the  medical  treatment  of 
his  disease.  He  remained  at  his  brother's  house  for  a 
little  over  three  weeks,  tenderly  cared  for.  The 
medical  attentions  which  he  received,  however,  were 
inconvenient  to  obtain,  and  it  became  greatly  desirable 
that  he  should  be  brought  to  his  home,  if  possible.  In 
a  weak  and  still  suffering  condition  he  undertook  the 
journey  on  Friday,  the  1st  of  September,  arriving  home 
the  following  afternoon,  after  traveling  uninterruptedly 
for  over  twenty-four  hours,  a  distance  of  nearly  four 


G8  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

hundred  miles.  Every  arrangement  was  made  for  his 
comfort  on  the  route,  yet  he  suffered  great  prostration 
from  the  journey. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  it  began  to  be  apparent  that 
his  disease  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  be  beyond  the 
possibility  of  arrest  by  medical  aid,  and  that  the  limit 
•to  which  he  might  last  was  merely  a  question  of  time. 
Throughout  the  long  illness  which  followed,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  was  called  to  endure  at  times  the 
keenest  suffering,  he  bore  his  pain  patiently  and  with- 
out a  murmur.  It  was  his  good  fortune  during  the 
entire  progress  of  this  sickness  to  have  the  unremitting 
attendance  of  two  of  the  leading  physicians  of  the 
city,  Drs.  Wallace  and  Ulrich,  both  members  of  his 
church,  who  night  and  day  devoted  themselves  to  the 
alleviation  of  his  sufferings,  and  did  all  that  medical 
skill  and  Christian  sympathy  could  suggest. 

After  about  a  month's  confinement  to  bed,  he  was 
able  to  sit  up  and  see  a  few  of  his  friends.  Some  time 
afterwards  he  rode  out,  on  one  occasion,  a  short  distance, 
in  a  carriage.  The  deepest  interest  was  manifested 
throughout  his  whole  illness  by  his  warmly  attached 
congregation,  and  the  community  in  general,  in  his 
situation,  and  announcements  from  time  to  time  of  his 
condition  were  eagerly  received.  In  the  latter  part  of 
December,  he  was  enabled  to  be  present  at,  and 
moderate,  a  meeting  of  the  church  session,  held  in  his 
study,  to  examine  several  candidates  for  admission  to 
membership.  During  the  succeeding  months  of  January 
and  February,  1872,  he  frequently  came  down  stairs  to 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  69 

meals,  and  saw  all  friends  who  called,  and  there  seemed 
to  be  a  temporary  change  for  the  better  in  the  symptoms 
of  his  complaint.  lie  attended  to  correspondence,  and 
endeavored  to  apply  himself  to  the  revision  of  a  work 
on  Christian  Experience,  which  wanted  a  few  chapters 
of  completion,  and  which  he  was  anxious  to  finish.  In 
February,  he  baptized  four  infant  children  of  parents 
belonging  to  his  church,  and  this  was  his  last  pastoral 
act.  During  this  month,  the  improvement  in  his 
condition  was  so  satisfactory  as  to  induce  some  hope 
that  he  might  again  be  able  to  preach.  He  was 
hopeful  himself,  clung  to  the  idea  of  a  restoration  to 
pastoral  labor,  and  began  to  lay  plans  for  future  work. 
In  reference  to  the  possibility  of  renewed  usefulness,  he 
remarked  that  if  again  permitted  to  occupy  his  pulpit, 
he  could  preach  as  he  had  never  preached  before. 

But  these  indications  were  fallacious,  and  his  own 
hopes,  and  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  his  family  and 
devoted  friends,  were  doomed  to  a  speedy  disappointment. 
He  approached  the  month  of  March  with  apprehension, 
on  account  of  its  unfavorable  associations  with  his 
health  for  many  years  previous.  About  the  middle  of 
that  month,  he  was  apprised  of  the  death  of  his  college 
classmate  and  life-long  friend,  Gilbert  Coombs,  A.M.,  of 
Philadelphia,  who,  he  was  aware,  had  recently  been 
stricken  down  with  the  same  disease,  and  with  whom 
he  had  shortly  before  exchanged  letters  of  sympathy. 
This  intelligence  greatly  shocked  and  agitated  him,  and 
in  his  weak  condition  doubtless  hastened  his  end. 
Exactly  two  weeks  these  friends  remained  divided.     In 


70  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

a  few  days  lie  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  his  life  soon 
hung  trembling  in  the  balance.  The  prayers  of  his 
stricken  flock  went  up  to  God  that  he  might  be  spared. 
Their  beloved  pastor,  the  idol  of  their  hearts  and  the 
corner-stone  of  their  earthly  religious  associations — how 
could  God  take  him  away  while  yet  in  the  full  tide  of 
his  Christian  usefulness?  But  His  ways  are  not  as  our 
ways.  In  the  economy  of  God's  administration  of  this 
world's  affairs,  no  one  man  is  indispensable. 

Throughout  the  greater  part  of  his  illness,  he  had  the 
companionship  of  his  temporary  pastoral  substitute  and 
ultimate  successor,  the  Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  with 
whom  he  took  counsel  concerning  the  affairs  of  the 
church,  and  who  ministered  to  him  in  his  dying  hours, 
receiving  his  parting  blessing.  On  Friday,  the  22d  of 
March,  he  was  made  acquainted  by  his  physicians  with 
the  fact  that  he  was  near  his  end.  He  said  simply,  "  Is 
it  so?"  On  the  evening  of  that  day  he  had  the  last 
rational  interview  with  his  family.  Though  faint  and 
so  feeble  as  scarcely  to  be  intelligible,  his  mind  at  this 
time  was  clear.  He  left  a  blessing  for  his  congregation, 
and  sent  messages  to  the  little  children  he  had  recently 
baptized,  and  desired  that  they  should  be  taught  to 
remember  him.  He  said,  distinctly,  to  his  eldest 
daughter,  who  bent  over  him,  "My  faith  is  in  Christ." 
This  was  his  last  connected  expression.  He  soon 
became  delirious,  and  the  same  night  was  believed  to 
be  dying.  He  lingered,  however,  three  days  longer, 
and  on  the  Monday  evening  following,  the  25th  of 
March,  at  a  little  before  eight  o'clock,  God  took  him. 


REV.  ELTAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D. 


On  Friday  afternoon,  March  29, 1872  (Good  Friday), 
the  funeral  services  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richards  took 
place  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  The  pulpit 
and  surroundings  were  heavily  draped  with  black, 
relieved  here  and  there  by  a  cross  or  wreath  of 
immortelles.  The  body  of  the  deceased  was  removed 
from  the  dwelling  at  11  A.M.,  and  borne  to  the  church 
and  deposited  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  Here,  from  this 
time  until  1  P.M. — the  hour  fixed  for  the  commencement 
of  the  services — the  remains  were  viewed  by  hundreds, 
who  crowded  forward  to  take  a  last  look  at  the  face  of 
the  beloved  dead.  The  coffin  was  covered  with  black 
cloth  and  silver  mounted,  a  plate  upon  the  lid  containing 
a  suitable  inscription.  The  body  was  laid  out  in  a  full 
suit  of  black,  with  white  neckcloth.  The  features  were 
calm,  natural,  and  peaceful. 

At  the  hour  appointed  for  the  funeral  the  church 
was  crowded  with  a  sad  concourse  of  people,  for  all 
were  mourners.  The  various  clergy  of  the  city  occupied 
seats  in  a  body,  convenient  to  the  pulpit.  The  occasion 
was  one  of  the  deepest  solemnity.  As  the  funeral 
cortege  entered  the  aisle,  a  dirge  was  played  upon  the 
organ. 

The  services  were  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Wallace 
Radcliffe,  and  opened  with  the  singing  of  the  hymn  by 
the  choir: — 

"How  blest  the  riirhteous  when  lie  dies." 


72  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

A  selection  of  Scripture  was  then  read,  and  prayer 
offered  by  Mr.  Radcliffe.  This  was  followed  by  the 
singing  of  the  familiar  hymn,  which  was  a  favorite 
with  the  deceased, 

"  Unveil  thy  bosom,  faithful  tomb,"— 

After  which  several  prominent  clergymen  from  abroad 
were  introduced,  and  delivered  addresses. 

The  Rev.  Z.  M.  Humphrey,  D.D.,  pastor  of  Calvary 
Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  was  the  iirst  speaker. 
In  answer  to  the  inquiry,  what  brought  so  large  an 
audience  together  on  one  of  the  secular  days  of  the 
week,  he  said  it  was  the  sympathy  of  their  hearts,  and 
the  unusual  interest  manifested  by  the  community  in 
this  sad  bereavement.  These  emblems  of  mourning 
told  of  the  great  loss  this  congregation  and  city  had 
sustained.  These  flowers  symbolized  a  life  and  character 
made  perfect  through  the  grace  of  God.  When  an 
elder  in  the  church  dies,  it  is  always  an  occasion  of 
unusual  interest,  particularly  when  his  pious  influence 
has  been  exercised  over  the  church  for  many  years. 
But  the  occasion  is  one  of  especially  deep  and  solemn 
interest  when,  as  in  the  present  instance,  a  beloved 
pastor  is  removed,  who  has  so  long  and  faithfully 
ministered  to  his  congregation.  As  the  speaker  had 
seen,  in  his  boyhood,  in  his  native  ISTcw  England 
village,  an  old  tree  that  had  grown  in  the  central 
square  for  many  years,  and  sheltered  under  its  protecting 
shade  the  fathers  and  the  children  for  many  generations, 
suddenly  prostrated  by  the  violence  of  the  storm,  the 


REV.  ELTAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  73 

people  of  the  village,  old  and  young,  gathered  with 
sorrow  and  affection  around  its  uprooted  trunk,  until  it 
seemed  as  if  its  roots  had  gone  into  every  home  and 
heart ;  so  this  multitude  gather  here  to-day  around  the 
prostrate  form  of  this  good  man,  who  had  stood  in  this 
place  for  twenty-live  years,  sending  out  his  grateful 
influences  into  all  these  homes  and  hearts.  Oh !  what  a 
gap  these  old  trees  make  when  they  are  taken  away. 
There  are  many  here  to-day  whose  hearts  are  torn  by 
the  removal  of  him  who  was  so  greatly  honored  and 
beloved.  It  seems  as  if  not  only  something  had  gone 
from  his  life,  and  the  life  of  his  household,  but  from 
the  lives  of  this  congregation  and  community.  The 
speaker  referred  to  the  significance  of  the  day  fixed  for 
these  ceremonies.  It  was  the  day  of  the  death  and 
burial  of  our  Lord,  a  day  most  fitting  for  this  Christian 
man  to  descend  with  his  Saviour  to  the  tomb.  As  we 
see  about  us  in  this  vernal  season  the  tokens  of  already 
reviving  nature,  so  do  we  also  look,  even  in  this 
bleakness  and  barrenness,  for  a  restoration  and  a  joy 
when  he  whom  we  thus  commit  to  the  silence  and 
darkness  of  the  grave,  shall,  with  his  Saviour,  appear 
again  in  the  final  glories  of  the  resurrection. 

Rev.  Daniel  March,  D.D.,  pastor  of  Clinton  Street 
Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  followed,  in  an 
eloquent  tribute.  There  were  nations,  he  said,  that 
had  rich  men,  mighty  men,  and  yet  those  nations  were 
poor,  and  there  are  nations  called  poor,  which  were  rich 
because  they  had  good  men.  To-day  this  congregation 
and  community  were  mourning  the  greatness  of  their 


74  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

loss.  For  twenty-five  years,  in  this  busy  hum  of 
industry,  this  faithful  man  of  God  has  gone  to  and  fro 
in  the  accomplishment  of  his  mission.  For  twenty-five 
years  in  this  city  he  has  gone  about  doing  good. 
Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  his  influence?  I  can 
truly  bear  you  witness  that  home-life  in  this  entire 
community  has  been  made  purer  and  better  from 
the  fact  that  such  a  man  has  lived  among  you.  It 
is  a  great  thing  for  a  man  to  live  in  this  world  for 
twenty-five  years  and  do  good.  My  heart  was  never  so 
touched,  nor  have  I  ever  received  so  great  a  compliment 
in  my  life  as  was  conveyed  in  the  childish  remark  of  a 
little  girl  in  one  of  the  families  of  my  congregation, 
who  said  to  a  visitor,  as  she  pointed  to  a  picture  of  her 
pastor,  hanging  on  the  chamber  wall,  "  That  is  God's 
man."  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  God's  man  upon  the 
earth,  and  it  is  a  great  thing  to  be  able  to  stand  here 
to-day,  and  say  over  the  body  of  this  faithful  pastor, 
"  This  was  God's  man."  How  many  times  he  has 
blessed  this  house  by  his  words,  always  so  fittingly 
spoken.  How  many  times  he  has  bowed  down  at  the 
bedside  of  sickness  and  suffering,  and  spoken  tender 
words  of  comfort  to  the  sick  and  dying.  There  are 
many  living  temples  of  his  goodness  and  tenderness  in 
this  house  to-day  which  are  desolate  and  silent,  because 
of  the  light  that  has  gone  out,  and  the  voice  of 
admonition  and  instruction  that  is  silent. 

Rev.  Dr.  Cattell,  President  of  Lafayette  College,  at 
Easton,  said,  with  deep  feeling,  that  during  all  these 
services   two  passages  of  Scripture  had  been  forcibly 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  75 

suggested  to  his  mind.  The  first  was,  "Blessed  are  the 
dead  who  die  in  the  Lord."  It  is  not  all  of  death  to 
die,  but  the  greatest  part  is  to  have  the  Christian's 
hope  and  promise  of  dying  in  the  Lord.  He  could 
speak  much  of  his  dear,  departed  brother,  so  cultured, 
so  scholarly.  He  referred  to  his  intercourse  with  him 
for  many  years  in  connection  with  the  legislation  of  the 
church,  and  bore  testimony  to  his  goodness  of  heart,  his 
sturdy  common  sense,  his  purity,  his  soundness  and 
judiciousness  as  a  church  counsellor,  and  his  patience 
and  influence  as  a  Presbyter.  He  had  learned  to  love 
and  honor  him,  with  their  increasing  intimacy.  The 
other  Scriptural  passage  that  had  arisen  in  his  mind 
was,  "  He  being  dead  yet  speaketh."  The  dead  man  in 
his  coffin  speaks  in  the  eminent  piety  and  purity  and 
goodness  of  his  life.  Dr.  Cattell,  in  the  concluding 
part  of  his  remarks,  spoke  with  great  pathos  and 
impressiveness  in  well-chosen  words  of  comfort  to  the 
bereaved  family  and  flock. 

The  Rev.  C.  F.  McCauley,  pastor  of  the  Second 
Reformed  Church  of  Reading,  expressed  the  sentiment 
of  the  clergy  of  the  city  in  the  great  loss  they  had 
sustained.  He  said  he  had  known  Dr.  Richards  since 
1855,  and  had  known  him  only  to  love  and  praise  him. 
He  had  had  an  ever  increasing  appreciation  of  his 
character  as  an  able  and  eflicient  minister  of  the  gospel, 
a  thorough  and  accomplished  scholar,  an  humble  and 
devout  follower  of  our  Lord,  a  high-toned  Christian 
gentleman,  and  a  genial,  kind,  and  sympathizing  friend, 
with  whom  it  was  pleasant  to  take  counsel,  and  in 


76  MEMORIAL   OF    THE 

whose  hands  the  speaker  could  trust  his  reputation — 
his  most  sacred  interests,  under  any  circumstances,  with 
perfect  safety.  A  discourteous  or  unkind  act  or  word 
was  altogether  foreign  to  his  character.  In  using  this 
language,  Mr.  McCauley  said  he  felt  that  he  was 
authorized  to  speak  in  behalf  of  all  his  brethren  in  the 
ministry  in  the  city.  As  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and 
co-laborers  with  Dr.  Richards,  they  deeply  felt  his  loss, 
believing,  however,  that  in  the  Communion  of  Saints 
he  was  still  with  them.  They  had  come  hither  to-day 
to  sit  as  silent  mourners.  Rev.  Mr.  McCauley  then 
stated  that  upon  the  announcement  of  the  death  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Richards,  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  of  the  city 
had  been  called  by  him  at  the  suggestion  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Schmucker,  and  others,  and  convened  in  the  Second 
Reformed  Church,  to  take  suitable  action  in  reference 
to  that  event.  A  cordial  response  was  given,  and  a 
minute  read  by  Dr.  Schmucker  had  been  unanimously 
adopted,  and  the  speaker  was  requested  to  read  it  on 
the  occasion  of  the  burial  services,  after  consultation 
with  the  family  of  the  deceased.  The  minute  was  as 
follows : — 

"  Forasmuch  as  it  has  pleased  our  Heavenly  Father 
to  bring  to  a  close  the  life  and  labors  on  earth  of  our 
honored  and  beloved  brother,  the  Rev.  Elias  J.  Richards, 
D.D.,  the  high  place  which  he  had  in  our  esteem,  and 
in  that  of  the  whole  community,  and  the  loss  which  his 
death  has  occasioned  to  his  household,  his  congregation, 
his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  to  the  city,  render  it 
fitting  that  we,  his  fellow-laborers  in  the  work  of  the 


ItEV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  77 

Lord  in  this  place,  should  give  expression  to  our  regard 
for  him,  and  our  sorrow  on  account  of  his  death. 

"As  a  man  lie  had  such  gentleness,  kindness,  and 
purity  of  natural  disposition,  and  divine  grace  had 
brought  forth  in  him  such  and  so  many  excellent  fruits 
of  the  Spirit,  that  his  daily  life  bore  testimony  that  he 
had  been  with  Jesus,  and  had  learned  of  Him,  and  it 
was  pleasant  to  take  counsel  with  him,  and  mark  his 
spirit. 

"As  a  minister  of  Christ's  church,  he  had  a  high  sense 
of  the  importance  of  diligent  and  laborious  study ; 
from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  his  work  he  never 
relaxed  his  habits  of  scholarly  research  and  thoughtful 
meditation,  and  his  attainments  entitled  him  to  an 
honored  place  among  the  learned  in  the  ministry  of  our 
land.  His  preparations  for  the  pulpit  were  habitually 
made  with  very  great  care,  and  under  a  deep  sense  of 
his  responsibility  to  God.  To  the  work;  of  his  ministry 
his  life  was  consecrated  without  reserve. 

"As  a  pastor  he  was  very  gentle,  tender,  patient, 
earnest,  and  faithful,  and  the  congregation  to  which  so 
large  a  part  of  his  life  was  so  faithfully  devoted  has 
our  warm  sympathies  in  the  severe  loss  which  it  has 
sustained. 

"In  his  relations  to  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  he 
was  kindly  and  courteous  in  a  degree  that  could 
scarcely  be  surpassed.  He  has  set  to  us  a  beautiful 
example  of  high-toned  Christian  courtesy,  which  will 
make  his  memory  very  precious  to  us. 

""We  hereby  extend  our  kindly   sympathies    to   his 


78  MEMORIAL    OF    THE 

bereaved  household,  and  to  the  congregation  long 
highly  favored  by  his  labors,  now  enduring  loss. 

"  We  will  attend  the  funeral  services  in  the  Presby- 
terian church  on  Friday,  at  1  P.M." 

Rev.  J.  Fry,  pastor  of  Trinity  Lutheran  Church, 
Reading,  then  offered  an  impressive  prayer,  in  which 
he  specially  invoked  the  Divine  comfort  upon  the 
stricken  widow  and  bereaved  family. 

A  duet  entitled  "The  Spirit  Land,"  a  very  beautiful 
composition  that  had  always  been  a  favorite  with  the 
deceased  pastor,  was  then  sung  with  much  taste  and 
feeling  by  two  former  members  of  the  choir,  Mrs.  A. 
R.  Durham  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Brown : — 

"  There  is  a  land  mine  eye  hath  seen 
In  visions  of  enraptured  thought, 
So  bright  that  all  that  spreads  between 
Is  with  its  radiant  glories  fraught." 

• 
The  services  then  closed,  and  the  body  was  borne  from 

the  church  by  the  following  gentlemen,  who  had  been 

designated  as  the  pall-bearers:  Rev.  Messrs.  Cornelius 

Earle,  of  Catasaqua ;  J.  W.  Wood, of  Allentown ;  Goodloe 

B.   Bell,  of  New  York  City;   John  Moore  and  John 

Thompson,    of   Pottstown ;    and    Albert    Erdman,   of 

Morristown,  New  Jersey. 

As  the  cortege  moved  from  the  house  to  the  place  of 

interment,  the  church   bell  was   solemnly  tolled,  and 

everywhere  along  the  line  of  the  procession  sad  crowds 

of  people  gazed  reverentially  at  the  passing  by  of  the 

remains   of    one   so   long   and    generally   known,   and 


REV.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  79 

so  universally  respected  and  beloved  throughout  the 
community.  Everything  betokened  the  solemnity  that 
was  befitting  the  occasion.  At  the  Charles  Evans 
Cemetery,  where  the  burial  took  place,  a  very  large 
assemblage  was  convened  to  mingle  their  tears  in  the 
last  sad  rites  at  the  grave  of  the  departed  pastor.  The 
body  was  committed  to  the  earth  by  the  Rev.  Wallace 
RadclifFe,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey  pronounced  the 
benediction. 


80  MEMORIAL   OF   THE 


ACTION  OF  THE  CONGREGATION. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Congregation  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  held  on  Sabbath  evening,  March  31,  1872,  immediately  after 
the  close  of  public  worship,  on  motion,  William  M.  Baird,  Esq.,  was 
called  to  the  chair,  and  Edwin  F.  Smith  appointed  Secretary. 

The  following  resolutions  were  offered  to  the  meeting  by  Dr.  D.  A. 
Ulrich  :— 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God,  in  His  wise  providence,  to 
remove  from  our  midst  the  Rev.  Elias  J.  Richards,  D.D.,  who  for 
twenty-six  years  has  been  the  beloved  and  honored  pastor  of  this 
church,  we,  the  members  of  this  church  and  congregation,  do  here 
resolve — 

That  in  this  said  dispensation  we  devoutly  recognize  the  presence  of 
our  Heavenly  Father,  who  doth  not  afflict  willingly,  but  loveth  whom 
he  chasteneth,  and  has  in  this  very  trial  a  lesson  for  us  of  Divine 
wisdom  and  affection,  and  pray  Him  so  to  sanctify  it  that  in  all  our 
hearts  there  may  be  wrought  even  now  the  promised  exceeding  weight 
of  glory. 

That  we  here  give  testimony  to  the  purity  and  attractiveness  of  his 
private  character,  and  the  faithfulness  and  honor  of  his  public  life. 
In  his  social  relations  he  was  kind,  winning,  and  congenial.  Jn  his 
pastoral  offices  he  was  patient,  intelligent,  watchful,  peace-making,  and 
sympathetic,  weeping  in  our  sorrow,  and  rejoicing  in  our  joy.  In  his 
public  ministrations  he  was  instructive  and  persuasive,  ever  evidencing, 
not  only  the  ripe  scholarship  and  culture  of  the  student,  but  the 
prayerful  devotion  that  was  earnest  to  hold  forth  the  word  of  life  to 
perishing  sinners,  and  approve  himself  in  all  things  a  minister  needing 
not  to  be  ashamed. 

That  we  gladly  record  our  conviction  that  his  life  illustrated  the 
power  of  the  gospel  he  preached,  and  that  death  was  not  only  to  him 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.D.  81 

a  relief  from  protracted  pain,  but  the  welcome  messenger  from  Him 
who  is  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life. 

Thai  we  will  cherish  the  memory  of  his  life  and  labors,  that  he  being 
dead  may  yet  speak  to  us  the  restraining  and  comforting  counsels  of 
our  beloved  Lord. 

That  we  invoke  the  special  presence  and  care  of  the  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  our  souls,  that  in  this  hour  of  bereavement  we  may  not  be 
as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  but  guided  in  all  our  counsels,  and 
preserved  in  the  unity  of  the  spirit,  which  is  the  bond  of  peace. 

That  we  extend  to  the  bereaved  wife  and  family  our  deepest 
sympathy  in  their  affliction,  and  commend  them  in  our  prayers  to  the 
Father  of  all  mercies,  and  the  God  of  all  comfort,  who  comforted  us  in 
all  our  tribulations. 

That  a  copy  of  this  paper  be  presented  to  the  family,  and  also  to 
the  daily  papers  of  this  city,  and  the  religious  papers  of  our  church, 
for  publication. 

Dr.  Edward  Wallace,  in  the  course  of  some  feeling  and  appropriate 
remarks,  moved  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions,  which  was  seconded 
by  William  H.  Liviugood,  Esq.,  in  an  address  of  a  similar  character. 

The  resolutions  were  subsequently  unanimously  adopted. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned. 


82  MEMORIAL    OP    THE 


ACTION  OF  THE  LEHIGH  PRESBYTERY. 


At  the  stated  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lehigh,  convened  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  at  Easton,  Pa.,  April  16,  1872,  the  death 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richards  having  been  announced  by  the  Moderator, 
Rev.  D.  S.  Banks,  on  motion  a  committee  consisting  of  Revs.  J.  W. 
Wood  and  Cornelius  Earle,  and  Elder  Lot  Benson,  was  appointed  to 
prepare  a  minute  expressive  of  the  sentiment  of  the  body  in  reference 
to  the  event.  The  committee  reported  the  following,  which  was 
unanimously  adopted: — 

The  Presbytery  having  heard  of  the  decease  of  one  of  its  ministerial 
members,  the  Rev.  Elias  J.  Richards,  D.D.,  the  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Reading,  put  upon  its  records  with  sad  yet 
trusting  hearts  the  following  minute  : — 

1.  We  recognize  in  this  removal  of  our  beloved  brother  the  hand  of 
the  Coveuankkeeping  Head  of  the  church,  who,  while  He  removes  his 
faithful  servants  from  their  earthly  sphere  of  labor,  raises  them  thereby 
to  the  full  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  promised  inheritance  of  the 
saints. 

2.  This  Presbytery  is  specially  made  to  know  by  this  dispensation 
that  ministers  must  die,  and  appear  before  God  to  give  an  account  of 
their  stewardship,  and  we  would,  therefore,  be  moved  to  an  increased 
faithfulness  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

3.  While  we  sorely  feel  our  loss  as  a  Presbytery,  we  give  thanks  to 
God  for  the  grace  that  counted  our  brother  worthy  putting  him  in  the 
ministry;  that  he  was  permitted  so  long  and  successfully  to  preach  the 
gospel,  and  to  go  in  and  out  as  a  pastor  among  a  loving  and  confiding 
people,  ever  maintaining  the  dignity  of  his  office,  and  exhibiting  the 
tenderness  and  faithfulness  of  a  true  under-shepherd. 

4.  We  are  thankful  for  the  grace  and  the  gifts  bestowed  upon  our 
departed  brother,  whereby  he  became  a  high-toned  Christian  gentleman, 


REV.  ELIAS   J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D.  83 

uniting  gentleness  with  courage ;  in  learning  profound,  yet  unobtrusive  ; 
wise  in  zeal,  and  firm  in  purpose;  a  workman  that  needed  not  to  be 
ashamed. 

5.  This  Presbytery  hereby  convey  to  his  bereaved  family  their 
Christian  sympathies  and  condolence,  and  also  to  his  church  where 
he  was  so  useful  and  so  beloved,  and  our  stated  clerk  is  hereby 
directed  to  furnish  them  both  with  a  copy  of  this  minute. 


84  EEY.  ELIAS    J.  RICHARDS,  D.  D. 


MEMORIAL    TABLET. 


At  the  stated  congregational  meeting  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  held  on  Wednesday  evening,  May  1,  1872,  Dr.  J.  K.  McCurdy 
in  the  chair,  and  Mr.  F.  R.  Schinucker,  Secretary,  Mr.  Louis  Richards 
offered  the  following — 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  Chairman  of 
this  meeting  to  take  the  necessary  steps  towards  the  erection  in  the 
church,  by  voluntary  subscription,  of  a  suitable  tablet  to  the  memory 
of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Richards,  to  whose  plans  and  efforts  we  are  in  a 
great  part  indebted,  as  well  for  the  architectural  perfection  of  the 
church  edifice  itself,  as  for  the  spiritual  prosperity  which  attended  us 
as  a  congregation  during  the  twenty-five  years  of  his  faithful  ministry 
in  this  charge. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the  chairman  appointed 
as  the  members  of  said  committee,  Messrs.  Louis  Richards,  "William 
H.  Livingood,  William  G.  McGowan,  W.  E.  C.  Coxe,  and  H.  A. 
Yundt. 


